


Chrome Shelled Hetalia

by SilvermistAnimeLover



Category: Hetalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers, 鋼殻のレギオス | Chrome Shelled Regios
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5479466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvermistAnimeLover/pseuds/SilvermistAnimeLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Italy's been acting odd for about a year or so, now, and nobody—not even Romano—knows what's up. When a strange Aurora interrupts a Meeting, and 12 nations—including Italy—are taken inside the Aurora, only Italy can guide them through his memories. How will the nations handle seeing the apocalypse that never occurred? Chrome Shelled Regios/Hetalia Crossover. Pairings unsure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

            Italy’s POV:

           

            “Ve~” Italy sighed happily, as he sank into his seat in the Meeting Room a bit more. _I’m so happy… I did it… I really did it. And the world is none-the-wiser~ Now I can just forget it all~ It was all like some sort of bad dream… a nightmare…_

He tuned back into the meeting just as America was wrapping up. “And that’s what _I_ think we should do about Global Warming! Of course, because _I’m_ the Hero, my idea is _obviously_ the best!”

“You bloody git! I raised you better than that!” England shouted, tired and fed-up with the obnoxious American.

“Zat is ENOUGH!” Germany finally shouted, quieting the entire room. “Italien… It iz your turn.” He stated with a sigh, not expecting anything other than a cry of ‘pasta~!’ from the airheaded Italian.

“Ve~ Okay, Germany~” Italy chirped, as he took the stand. He then started to give an _actual_ presentation on the dangers of pollution AND the dangers of ‘going green’, and why and _how_ they should deal with it, as well as the dangers of nuclear power plants and how to make them safer, if not remove them completely. It was obvious that he’d practiced it quite a lot, and the other nations were taken quite aback by the high intelligence that Italy was showing for once. Not one time, did the Italian even so much as _mention_ any kind of food or food-related subject—he stayed on-topic the entire time, and gave fantastic arguments, counterarguments, and counter-counterarguments.

Suffice to say, the others were blown out of the water—even Romano. By the time Italy had finally finished his presentation, a full 45 minutes later, the room was left in dead silence. “Any questions or comments?” He asked, turning away from his PowerPoint to address the room.

“Wha–?! What the _fuck_ , Veneziano?!” Romano finally cried out.

“Ve? Romano?”

“What the _hell_ is going on with you?! Since when do you give an _actual_ presentation?! Since when are your arguments _this_ good and well-thought out?! Since when do you even _have_ a fucking argument?!” Italy sighed.

“I meant questions or comments about my presentation…”

Nobody quite knew what to say. It’d been obvious for a few months, now (actually, about a year) that Italy was a bit… off. But nobody could quite place how. Moreover, Italy had been spending a great deal of time alone, something very unusual for the Italian. He’d even been disappearing for days or even _weeks_ at a time, without a word to anybody, and to be honest, it scared Romano quite a bit; he _knew_ how terrified Veneziano was of being alone—unless he was in his private lab working on something. Italy always wanted to be alone when he was working on a private project, unless he needed some help.

But this was the strangest that Italy had ever been. He’d seemed a bit off before—reserved, introverted a bit, quieter, and perhaps even a bit depressed—but he’d never shown this much intelligence or initiative. And to be honest, it frightened the other nations.

“No? Well, then, that concludes my presentation. Grazie for being so attentive.” Italy finally stated as he took his seat again. Nobody made a sound.

Italy knew he’d probably—scratch that— _absolutely_ sent the room into shock. After all, he hadn’t really been one to show off his intelligence before, so why would they expect him to show it now? He’d always been extremely smart. After all, many of the world’s greatest minds came from Italy, and a nation’s personification is affected greatly by the minds of their people. Italy however, had actually spent _personal_ time with some of the greatest minds of his nation. He was always irritated at how the other nations thought he was just a cowardly, naïve, _hetare_ , weakling.

He’d secretly helped Galileo with his theories of the Sun being the center of the solar system, even when the church persecuted Galileo; he’d secretly helped his friend continue the research. Leonardo da Vinci was his _best friend_ for decades, and they constantly worked together on many theories and theorems and paintings, and debated many things back and forth for _hours_ with topics that would make anyone else’s heads spin! He’d even helped him come up with the idea for, and design of, the helicopter and calculator! Italy had even _co-written_ _The Divine Comedy_ with Dante Alighieri!

He was by no means, an idiot. He’d just always been afraid to show it… He’d just simply prioritized having friends, and didn’t want to risk them rejecting him because he was smarter than them. Romano was the only one who knew of his true intelligence, and even _he_ didn’t know about everything that Italy had done.

The others seemed to _finally_ find their voices, and started pelting Italy with all sorts of questions about what the _hell_ was going on with him lately. Even Germany pointed out that he’d actually been _applying_ himself in training. Not only that, but he’d been spending most of his time with Romano and Japan and Germany (not that the last one was too strange, but the fact that he was spending as much time with Romano and Japan as he was Germany was a bit unusual). Plus, he noticed Canada, and wasn’t afraid of England _or_ Russia… _Russia!_

Italy, however, simply ignored the questions, and occupied himself with his papers, silently telling them that he refused to answer. That is, until a bright red flash interrupted the chaos. Everyone fell silent, expecting to hear some sort of alarm. After a few seconds, the light flashed again, but nobody could pinpoint its location.

Italy tensed unnoticeably, the red flash bringing back some not-so-good memories of other alarm systems… explosions... the sound of _click, click… click… click…_ he shuddered; they weren’t pleasant… But more than that… _This-! This is kei! It’s strong, too!_ He thought to himself in fear. _But why? How?! Kei… It shouldn’t exist! Not anymore, not here!_

Italy discreetly started to channel his own kei, subconsciously reaching for the small, rectangular device that was hidden in his pocket. Nobody noticed this, however, because with the next red flash of light, a miniature aurora formed above the meeting table.

If any of the nations had been looking at Italy, they would’ve seen him pale drastically to a sheet-white color, and his golden eyes open wide before narrowing into slits as he glared at the multi-colored lights.

“The _fuck_ is _this_?!” Romano shouted, confused as hell.

“Dude, I don’t know, but it’s _cool_!” America shouted, grinning like a maniac.

“But what _is_ it?” England asked, bewildered. America reached forward, as if to touch it, when Italy shouted out in a no-nonsense tone that, quite honestly, scared the shit out of the other nations, “ _Don’t_ touch it!” America froze, mid-reach.

“O-Oi… Fratellino?” But before anyone else could say anything, the light from the aurora grew brighter, and brighter, as the kei grew stronger and stronger. The nations had to shield their eyes, though Italy was keeping his guard way up (and using his observational kei to make extra sure of it).

They felt their chairs fade away, as they all fell into unconsciousness. _This kei… it feels… familiar somehow… I’ve felt it somewhere before… But… I can’t… remember…_ Then, Italy knew no more.


	2. Segreti

The first thing Italy became aware of upon awakening was the unique auras of the other nations. It took him only a split second to recognize France, Germany, Prussia, Japan, China, America, Canada, Russia, Romano, Spain, and England, and register the fact that they were all unharmed. The next thing he became aware of was a pounding headache. _Ve! My head hasn’t hurt this bad since I was thrown through that wall!_ Finally, he registered that they were most certainly _not_ in the Meeting Room anymore. Hell, they weren’t even in the same _building_ anymore!

One after another, as the seconds passed, the others started waking up, much to his relief. Groaning, he eased himself into a sitting position, stretching his muscles, and checking himself over for damage. And thanks to his Internal Kei, his headache was already easing away.

“Where the hell are we?” Romano asked as he, along with everyone else, stood up, rubbing their heads.

Italy looked around the room. It was white, with no furniture, and no windows or doors. In fact, it wasn’t even a room, as much as it was an endless expanse of white. He realized that the entire area was saturated in kei energy. Now that he was aware of it, it seemed to hit him all at once, and he swayed slightly. He caught himself before anyone noticed, but it gave him one hell of a migraine, even _with_ his Internal Kei helping. But what really scared him was that it held the same kei signature as the aurora.

A kei signature is as unique as a retina or fingerprint; everybody has their own kei signature, regardless of whether or not they can use/utilize/activate their kei, and regardless of whether or not they have a kei organ. Without kei, any living thing will die. It just wasn’t until—

“Mon dieu! Where are we?!” France cried out, cutting off Italy’s mental wanderings.

“How strange… It’s as if that aurora transported us somewhere…” England trailed off, but it made Italy gasp audibly, catching the other nation’s attention.

“Don’t tell me!” He gasped quietly.

“What? Do you know something, Veneziano?” Romano asked, suspicious.

“I… I think we’re _inside_ the Aurora…” He trailed off, unable to fully comprehend it. The Aurora was, after all, an extremely powerful and mysterious thing, even to him. And he’d studied it extensively for _centuries_!

“That isn’t possible, aru! An aurora is simply the visualization of the Earth’s magnetic field, aru!”

“Then explain how it appeared in our Meeting Room? And why it grew so bright?” Canada spoke up for the first time, startling the others.

Italy’s hand migrated towards his pocket again, as he sensed something approaching, but with the large and chaotic kei surrounding them, he couldn’t figure out what it was. _Ve… But if we really are inside the Aurora… I hope I don’t have to use that spell again… I don’t want to go through that again… and using that power again could kill me… Permanently._

Italy’s eyes narrowed as it came closer… closer…… closer……… Finally, he could see something. _Ve! It’s…_ “ _Saya_ …?” Italy breathed out in shock. He’d expected a monster, a fairy, a person, but the _last_ thing he’d expected, was Saya.

“Italien, vhat is a ‘saya?’” Germany asked, having heard Italy, but unable to see Saya yet, as she was too far away for the other nations to see.

Italy remained stubbornly silent, though mostly from shock of seeing Saya again, he didn’t take his eyes off of her. _Ve… How? Did I mess up? Was it all a dream?_

By the time Saya finally reached them, they all fell silent. Before them, stood a girl, with long black hair, and dark eyes. Her face was expressionless, but Italy could tell she was both happy and displeased.

“Saya.” Italy stated, surprising the others.

“You know her?” Spain asked.

“Feliciano… Feli. Celestial Blade Wielder. My dear friend.”

“Saya, what are you doing here? Where _is_ here? _When_ is here?”

“Feli… You once trusted me with the Heaven’s Blades… With your friendship, and with your protection… You gave me the opportunity to be human again, and _feel_. I wish to repay my debt to you… But I cannot. I wish to help you instead. You carry a large burden… You hurt inside, and can share it with none.” Italy’s eyes widened as he realized what she was planning.

“Saya, don’t tell them! _Please!_ ” He cried out desperately, but she shook her head, as the other nations looked on in concern, curiosity, and suspicion. What was it that Italy was so desperate to hide? And why?

“I will not tell them.” Italy only tensed. “I will _show_ them… your memories… the past… their future…” Saya whispered to him.

“ _What?!_ No! I can’t! I’d rather _tell_ them! I don’t want them to see!”

“You must… I’m so sorry, Feli… But… I cannot allow you to carry this burden alone anymore. You must understand; if it is to be prevented again, _they_ must understand as well.” Italy and Saya locked eyes, and in that instant, Italy saw flashes of a ruined world… Of what would happen if they failed to understand.

“It won’t be overnight, like before, but it _will_ happen if they don’t understand… If they don’t _see_.” She continued. Italy closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. A single tear ran down his cheek, as the nations looked on, confused as fuck, and worried as hell.

“Okay…” he finally relented. Saya gave a small smile, the first expression they’d seen the strange ethereal girl make.

“Thank you, Feli. I cannot control which memories will be viewed… Only the Aurora can decide what is important enough…”

“So we _are_ inside of it?”

“Yes.”

“Is there any chance of encountering a Contaminoid?” Italy asked seriously, his eyes golden slits, as if ready to fight at a moment’s notice; though luckily for him, the other nations were at just the right angle to miss his expression, though they heard the seriousness in his voice.

“Perhaps… I’ve put my protection up around you and your friends, but I must return to Glendan… my protection here will be weaker than usual, so please be prepared… just in case.”

“Right.” He said, with a sharp nod, before he looked up in surprise. “Ve? _Glendan?!_ But it doesn't exist anymore!” Italy cried out in surprise. “Unless…?”

“Yes. They’re separate. They both exist. The Aurora is the in-between, able to transcend time and space… It is the only way I can communicate with you now… It’s how it happened the first time…”

“I see…” Italy’s eyes closed again in thought.

“I must go…” Saya reminded him gently.

“Ve… Okay. Ciao, Saya. I’ll miss you… And grazie, for keeping me from making another mistake.” Italy whispered. Saya simply nodded her head, a simple, tiny smile on her face, but only Italy could see it. She then vanished in a spray of multicolored aurora light.

All was silent for about twenty seconds, before Romano finally exploded. “WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS _THAT,_ VENEZIANO?! WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON?! HUH?! WHO WAS THAT GIRL, HOW DO YOU KNOW HER, AND WHAT THE FUCKING HELLISH CRAP WERE YOU TWO JUST TALKING ABOUT?! _HUH?!_ ” Romano ranted, frustrated, scared, and beyond confused.

“Hai, Itary-kun… I berieve that you owe us an expranation…” Japan added quietly, yet firmly.

Italy sighed and looked everyone in the eye, his own eyes actually open for once. “I don’t need to explain,” He held up his hand to stop their outbursts, “because I’m going to _show_ you.”

“Show us…?” Canada asked quietly. Italy nodded his head.

“Si. I’ll show you… My past… your future…” Before anyone could ask him what he meant, the 12 of them were surrounded by an icy-blue-white glow that was tinged with spring greens and sunny yellows, though the wintry blue was prominent. It grew brighter and brighter, until everyone had to shield their eyes from the light.

When they were finally able to see again, they found themselves in an alleyway. Italy’s eyes widened as he realized what memory this was.

“Fuck… I don’t want to see this again…” He muttered under his breath, but Romano heard, and thwacked his head. “Oi! I’m the only one allowed to use that sort of fucking language, damnit!”

“Ve! We’ll you’re going to hear a lot more than _that,_ fratello! Trust me…” He trailed off somewhat sadly, as they watched another Italy enter the alley.

“Woah! Dude! Is that _you_?!” America asked.

“Si. That’s the me from the past. This was about a year ago to you…”

“To… us…?” Japan asked, confused.

“Just… just watch.” Italy stated firmly, masking his inner turmoil.

“Ve~ It’s been awhile since I’ve been down this entrance~ I think the last time was when I was showing Leo around~ Ve… that was fun…” Past Italy stated, a melancholy smile on his face.

“Leo…?” Germany asked, confused.

“Leonardo da Vinci. He was my good friend, and I told him that I was a nation. We’d spend lots of time together~ I remember when I first proposed the idea of the helicopter! He was so sure it wouldn’t work~ Then I showed him my blueprints~ Hehe~ The look on his face was _hilarious_ ~!” Italy giggled a bit, mostly trying to relieve the anxiety he felt at what they were about to witness…

“VAIT! _You_ invented ze helicopter?!” Germany blurted out.

“Vait, vait, _vait!_ You vere _best friends_ vis _Leonardo da Vinci?!_ ” Prussia tacked on. The other nations were all rather shocked at this information. For one, it completely disproved their idea that Italy was an idiot. For another, it proved that he really _was_ much more observant than they thought. Whoops on their part.

Feliciano (we’ll just call Past Nations by their human names, from now on) ran his finger down a hairline crack in the brick wall of the alley’s dead end. The nations watched in awe as the wall started _separating_ , revealing a hidden tunnel.

“DUDE! THAT’S SO _COOL!_ I WANT ONE!” America shouted.

“Ve… By the way, if anyone but Romano and myself try that, you’ll just end up triggering one of the numerous traps.” They looked between a smirking Romano and a smirking Italy, but wisely said nothing.

They watched as Feliciano walked through the tunnels, torches along the walls lighting his way. “Ve~ The torches work off of the natural energy of my nation, so when it senses the energy of a nation nearby, particularly one of Italian decent, as with me and Roma, they’ll light themselves. No fuel needed. These are Grandpa Rome’s tunnels, by the way. They stretch across any land that my Grandfather used to control.” Italy finished, leaving the other nations in a not-sure-if-I-should-be-impressed-or-scared-shitless type of mood.

Feliciano made his way through the complex maze-like tunnels—taking so many twists and turns that none of the others could even _begin_ to remember the path—until finally, they came upon a door, which wasn’t all that unusual from what they’d seen. The only thing that made _this_ door different from the countless _other_ doors that they’d already seen, was that Feliciano actually went through this one.

“Umm…” Nobody quite knew what to do. Feliciano had gone through the door, but he’d closed it before they could go through. “Great, now what?!” Romano shouted.

“Ve~ Roma, calm down, this is a memory, remember? We can’t touch anything here. Watch.” Italy stated, walking _through_ the wooden door. The other nations simply stood there, not quite sure how to accomplish what they’d just seen; their self-preservation instincts telling them that, _yes,_ a door _was_ , in fact, a solid object, and that, _no,_ they could _not,_ actually, walk _through_ it. After a few seconds, Italy’s head popped through the door, startling the others—and freaking a few out.

“Ve? What are you waiting for? Come on.” Then he disappeared through the door again. Japan was the first one to make a move, walking calmly through the door, and disappearing the same way as Italy. The others followed soon after.

The room was about the size of a small living room, but it seemed much smaller due to the 2 desks that were overflowing with books and papers. Open books and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pages of notes of everything ranging from checklists and poems and doodles to complex scientific formulas and mechanical notes were scattered all around the room. It was a mess. The only ‘clean’ area was the right side of the room, where it seemed to be divided into two sections; one with a long table and two curious devices, and the other with a few smaller tables and a desk with some microscopes and biology and botany books and notes.

“What _is_ this?” England breathed out in awe, as he looked at some of the notes. He couldn’t understand any of them.

“Ve? This is my private research lab. I work on all my personal projects here.” Italy answered.

“V-vas?!” Germany shouted out in shock.

“Itary-kun…? What is this?” Japan asked, examining the curious devices on the long table. The two devices looked just like each other. The base seemed to be a round white disk of some sort, about the size of a dinner plate, with a black ring around the outer edge, and another black ring around the inner edge. There were three silver rings somehow floating above each disk, each one hovering about 6 inches above the one below it. There was a strange hum of energy coming from them…

“Oh? Those are a little pet-project of mine~ They’re teleportation devices~!”

“Nani?! Tereportation?! Sugoi! How far are you?” Japan had been working on his own teleportation technology for a while, but he hadn’t gotten far enough for a working prototype yet.

“Ve~ Those two are prototypes, as you’ve probably already guessed. They worked, too, but only with inanimate objects, and only over a short distance. I hadn’t gotten them to work any farther than 3.25 feet away from one another. Any farther apart, and the object that it was teleporting would start to either deform during the journey, or lose parts of itself. I was still working on fixing that at this point in time, but it wouldn’t teleport anything alive yet. Poor moth… and mouse…” Italy stated, remembering how hard he’d been working on them before he’d gotten distracted with the other project.

“Wow! You’ve done all that _yourself_ , aru?! That’s amazing!” China cried out, speaking for the whole room. Romano remained quiet; knowing full well how much time Italy could spend down there, working for days on end on these projects of his, hardly taking the time to use the restroom, let alone eat.

“Grazie~ But I’d gotten distracted with another project…” Italy trailed off, knowing that his past self would explain.

“Ve~ Romano~ What are you doing here? I thought we agreed that this was my area?” Feliciano stated, grabbing the attention of the other nations. They only then noticed that Past Romano (or Lovino as we’ll call him) was sitting at one of the desks, reading through some of the research papers.

“I see you’ve gotten much farther on the teleportation prototypes. Good job. Let me know if you need any other mice or rats.” Lovino stated calmly, not looking up from the papers.

“Romano… Why are you here? You don’t see _me_ letting myself into _your_ private lab.” Feliciano raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, you have a lab, too Lovi?” Spain asked.

“Chigi! Of course I do! I’m just not as scientifically inclined as Veneziano, but I _do_ invent stuff, too! I just deal with geology and biology more than technology and astronomy, like Veneziano. I’m also pretty damn good with engineering.”

“Si~ Roma’s the best when it comes to geology and biology~ Botany, too~! And he’s a genius at mechanics~!” The others stared between the two Italians. Why hadn’t they noticed this before? Just how smart _were_ the Italy Twins?

“Wait!” Romano suddenly shouted, turning to Italy. “I don’t remember this! The fuck?! This is your _memory_ , right? So why the crap can’t I remember this?!”

The others look between Romano and Italy with raised eyebrows.

“Ve… You may not believe me, but… I’m actually… from the future…” Silence.

“What…?” Romano breathed, his twin connection telling him that Veneziano was telling the truth, while his mind was saying something along the lines of, _‘there’s no fucking way he could’ve time traveled! That sort of technology isn’t even close yet!’_

“I said… I’m from the future. I traveled back in time to prevent...” He stopped, a look of grief overcoming his features.

“Prevent vhat…?” Prussia asked tentatively, not sure if he wanted to know. Italy looked down, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

“The apocalypse.” He answered, his voice void of all emotion.

“Wha- _what_?! You mean zombies, explosions, the world freezing over?! _That_ stuff?!” America shouted. The other nations would usually laugh it off like some sort of joke, but with how odd Italy had been acting this past year or so… plus seeing the past—future?—like this…

“Heh… No zombies, or freezing, but there were plenty of explosions…” Italy stated darkly. “You’ll see it firsthand here… So just wait, okay?” He turned his attention back to his old lab—his old self.

Lovino sighed, causing the group to turn their attention back to the memory, as they continued to digest the new information. “Veneziano. You’ve been locking yourself away in your lab for the past 4 _months_ , and taking some of my biology books, too! And don’t think I didn’t notice you taking some botany books from our library _and_ my private laboratory! What’s this new project about? You’ve been working on the teleportation prototype nonstop for _years_ , now, and I _know_ you’re not the kind of person to leave a project unfinished to work on something else unless it was either more interesting or more important. So explain.”

“Ve~ Look at this, Lovi.” Feliciano said, holding up a strange flower. It was very pretty; it looked like a cross between a stargazer lily, a hibiscus, and a rose, and it was purple, green, blue, red, yellow, and fuchsia, but the colors were all swirled together in some sort of complex, precise tie-dye pattern.

“What the…?” Lovino and Romano breathed at the same time, both of them wondering what the hell was up with the strange flower.

“It’s natural.” Feliciano stated. Lovino started drooling over the flower, as he took a few steps closer to get a better look.

“ _How?_ Those aren’t natural markings, unless it’s some sort of…” Lovino trailed off as he looked up suspiciously at Feliciano, Romano doing the same with Italy. “Veneziano, where did you find this?”

“It’s a mutation. Of what, I’m not quite sure. It’s an entirely new type of flower in a genus all its own. It may have been something else once, but it appears to have been mutated at an _anatomical_ level, and thus created an entirely _new_ species of flower. I don’t have a name for it yet, but it has some very interesting pollen...”

“ _Where_ did you find it? Don’t try to change the subject on me, Veneziano.” Lovino warned.

“Ve… I sort of found it near a nuclear power plant in America…”

“You _what?!_ Veneziano, you _know_ how I feel about nuclear power plants! They’re _dangerous!_ That’s why we both agreed to remove them from our nation entirely!”

“I know, Roma! I _know_! But it’s so _interesting_! The flower’s mutation is caused by the nuclear upset near the plant! Look!” Feliciano practically shoved Lovino towards the microscope. He glanced into it before turning back to Feliciano to give him a lecture, before he stopped quite suddenly, and whirled around for a double take, staring into the microscope with newfound interest.

“What the fuck?! This is–! What the _hell_ am I _looking_ at?” Lovino exclaimed, as Romano looked intrigued. He could usually identify any plant or pollen on-sight through a microscope. If his past-self was _this_ confused… He’d ask Veneziano to show him the specimen later, though his hands were twitching at the thought of examining the flower in-depth… He was a botany-nut, and _proud_ of it!

“It’s the pollen from the flower. I’ve run quite an extensive amount of experimentation on it. It’s not harmful to humans or nations, but it _does_ travel unbelievably fast by air. If my calculations are correct, then it can travel from one side of America to the other—coast-to-coast—in ten minutes or less, regardless of wind levels.”

“What?!” Lovino and Romano looked at Italy and Feliciano in shock.

“But how?! That shouldn’t be possible!” Romano shouted, echoing his past self.

“I’m not entirely sure yet… But get this! It grows all over the world, but only near nuclear power plants! At least, from what I’ve seen...”

“Woah… Do… Do you think I could have a few samples?” Lovino asked, practically drooling at the flower that Feliciano was holding. Spain let out a whisper of “So adorable~! Kya~!” But even their Romano was too caught-up in the idea of examining the flower to hear Spain; much to the endless amusement of the other nations.

“Sure~ I’ve got quite a few, and every flower’s design is unique! Here.” He set five carefully preserved and bottled flowers on the table for Lovino to choose from. Lovino grabbed one, muttering a quick “Grazie” before grabbing Feliciano by the wrist, and proceeding to drag him out into the tunnel.

Italy suddenly tensed, knowing what was about to happen.

“Fratello? Where are we going?” Feliciano asked, calm yet slightly miffed, as if this kind of thing happened often.

“Idiota! You haven’t eaten in two days! You only rest from your research once every 2-4 days, and that’s just to sleep in an _actual_ _bed_ instead of on your desk and notes. I’m making you some pasta.” Lovino stated, as Feliciano fell into step beside him.

“You don’t _eat, aru?!_ That’s not good!” China shouted, annoyed. Of all people, Italy was the last person they would expect to get too caught up in something to even _eat_.

“Yea… The idiota once went 2 ½ _weeks_ without eating _anything_ before I finally dragged him home and force-fed him pasta.” Romano grumbled.

“You had to force-feed _Italy_ _Pasta!?_ ” Germany repeated; his mind unable to comprehend that Italy wouldn’t want pasta in _any_ situation.

“Yea… he only gets like that when he’s really into his research, or really into a painting… I remember one time he actually _ate_ the paint by mistake when he was working on one of his portraits. He’d been working on it for 6 days straight, no sleep, and no food, and somehow mistook the paint for food.”

“That was _one time_ , fratello! And I keep a mini-fridge and pantry in there, now, so I _do_ eat when I paint!”

“Hmm… Maybe we should put one in the lab, then? Nah, then you’d never come out.”

“Oh, like you’re any better when you’re on a roll? I remember one time when you locked yourself in your lab for almost a month with nothing but a handful of granola bars and a pack of water! I had to actually _pick the lock_ to drag you out, and found you passed out on the floor from hunger!” Italy shot back, raising an eyebrow.

“Yea, well, at least I don’t _drool_ all over my research notes!”

“Yea?! Well at least _I_ bothered to put a bathroom in my lab!”

“You said you’d never mention that again!” Romano screeched, blushing like mad. It wasn’t _his_ fault that he was so into his research that he didn’t have time to use the restroom! He’d kept those adult diapers down there for a reason… He just hadn’t expected Veneziano to find them…

“Mention what?” Italy replied innocently.

The other nations just stared dumbfounded. They’d never seen the Italy twins act this way before. Sure, they’d seen them fight, but never banter with each other in such a teasing and brotherly manner before. They’d always assumed that the brotherly relationship was simply one-sided. That Romano could care less what his younger brother did, as long as he didn’t get hurt. It seemed that there was a lot more to their relationship with one another than anyone else thought possible. The only exception was Spain, who raised Romano, and knew how close the brothers truly were. He’d been there, along with Austria and Hungary, when the two brothers were reunited after hundreds of years apart, with nothing but letters as a means of communication between the two. It had been such a breathtaking, touching brotherly moment that he couldn’t help but let Romano go… no matter how much it hurt… At least he came back.

“Ve~ Grazie Romano~ I suppose I’ll work better after I get something to eat other than a granola bar.” Feliciano stated, catching the attention of the future nations again, but Italy tensed.

“Veneziano…?” Romano asked quietly, worried at his brother’s edginess. Italy only gripped his brother’s arm, needing the comfort of his touch. This only served to worry Romano more; Veneziano, while he typically acted like a coward, was always emotionally strong around others, even if he didn’t seem it. He was the kind of person that hid his emotional pain and turmoil until it ate him from the inside out enough to cause a breakdown, or until Romano dragged it outta him. Veneziano _never_ sought emotional comfort like this unless he was truly terrified.

Romano discreetly brought his twin into a comforting one-armed embrace.

“Yea… But we’ll eat fast, okay?” Lovino stated, holding up the encased flower. “I can’t wait to—” But whatever Lovino was going to say was cut off by the sound of an explosion, and the tunnel shaking. It shook so much, that Feliciano and Lovino had to lean against the walls to keep from falling over.

The nations all looked around, startled. “The fuck?!” Romano shouted, frightened, tightening his hold on his brother. Italy, on the other hand, closed his eyes tightly and covered his ear with his free hand, his other hand cutting off the blood flow of Romano’s arm (Italy had to keep aware of his grip, though, so as to not break his brother’s arm). This experience… ever since he’d lived through it, he’s had this huge fear of cave-ins. Any type of explosion or shaking while in a confined space made him panic, as he was doing now. He couldn’t even handle _elevators_ anymore.

Romano brought Italy into his chest, doing his best to comfort his terrified twin brother. Italy was shaking so hard that it honestly looked like he was being shaken by the quake in the tunnel.

Japan was the first to notice. “Itary-kun?! Daijobu?!” Japan’s worried cry caught the attention of the other nations.

“Veneziano! Calm down. Take a deep breath, and calm down. I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe. It’s not really happening.” Romano spoke softly and comfortingly, while rubbing his brother’s back, as the shaking of the tunnel got worse. Rocks started falling down from the ceiling.

Italy let out a whimper and crouched down in a fetal position, taking Romano to the ground with him, as he tried to block the whole thing out. He gripped his brother in a death-hug, clinging desperately to him to ground himself to reality.

Giant carnivorous insects that primarily feast on human flesh? No problem. Explosions while in an underground tunnel? He’d rather eat his boot—no, scratch that—he’d rather eat _England’s cooking_ for a _month_.

Romano continued to hold Italy in a gentle, yet firm embrace, as Italy clung to his fratello like a lifeline. Romano continued to mutter soothingly to his fratellino, while trying to keep himself from panicking from the overwhelming fear traveling through their mental link. He sent as many soothing thoughts and emotions and memories through their link as he could to try to calm Veneziano down.

It was then that the tunnel collapsed around them; Italy flinched badly when it did. The others cried out, trying to dodge the falling rocks, only to have said rocks pass through them harmlessly. They shivered, still not used to the whole, not-able-to-touch-anything thing…

It was completely silent as the dust floated around them… Italy had finally calmed down, muttering an apology for his behavior, and a near-silent thank you to his fratello, whom he still clung to.

“It’s arright, Itary-kun. It must’ve been a traumatic experience for you…” Japan stated, trying to comfort his friend.

“S-si… Ever since then, I’ve had this fear of being trapped in a small space… not like claustrophobia, but more like being in a confined area while it’s shaking…” He trailed off, finally pulling away from his brother a bit and standing up, though he kept a firm grip on Romano’s arm, not that Romano minded—he himself kept an arm around his younger twin.

Veneziano’s reaction had terrified him—they’d all been through war before. They’d all seen and lived through explosions and bombings and whatnot as well. Hell, they’d lived through two World Wars, and while they all had some sort of PTSD for awhile, Nations were mentally stronger than humans, and they were able to recover after awhile. But never before had any Nation had such a bad reaction like this… to even be afraid of _elevators?_ There had to be more to Veneziano’s fear than a cave-in. Though, to be fair, reliving the experience that caused that fear probably had something to do with why the reaction was so strong… but still… to induce an actual _phobia_ or permanent fear in a Nation? That was almost unheard of! Especially in a Nation as old and experienced as Veneziano…

“Mein Gott…” Germany trailed off as the dust finally settled enough for them to see the damage. The whole tunnel hadn’t collapsed, but the middle of the tunnel, where Feliciano and Lovino had been walking, was nothing more than a pile of rocks and rubble. It didn’t seem like they were at street-level, though… they were still definitely underground in the tunnel network.

Movement caught their attention as Lovino, bloodied and bruised, dragged himself from the rubble, into the part of the tunnel that had survived. “Fuck! What the _hell_ was _that?!_ Not an earthquake… But… damn!” He started coughing up blood, and he kept his weight off his left ankle. His right wrist also looked either sprained or broken, but beyond that, they couldn’t tell what his other injuries were.

“Veneziano?! Where are you!?” Lovino shouted, not bothering to hide the splash of panic in his voice. “Don’t you dare fucking die on me, fratellino…” He muttered under his breath.

“Wait a minute, mon ami! I sought zat zis was your memory? So why can we see zis even when you’re not ‘ere?” France spoke up.

“Ve… I’m guessing that Saya did something that allows us to see beyond what I experienced. That, or it’s just another mystery of the Aurora that I’ll never know…” Italy sighed, still quivering slightly, but visibly calmer.

Before they could comment on anything, Feliciano’s voice caught their attention. “Roma! I need help! My leg’s stuck!” The whole group ran with Lovino towards the cry, and found Feliciano, bloody and banged up and dusty just like his brother, trying to pull himself out of the rubble. His left arm was bent at an odd angle and looked to be causing him great pain, and he also seemed to be having trouble breathing.

Japan, Germany, and America all went to help Lovino pull Feliciano out of the rubble, but realized that they just passed right through him. Romano just tightened his grip on Veneziano, as if to remind himself that he was still there.

“Memory, remember?” Italy reminded them. China looked frustrated that he couldn’t treat, or even properly check their injuries, as the others looked frustrated that they could do nothing to help.

“What _was_ that?” Feliciano asked after Lovino had finally managed to help him out of the rubble.

“The _hell_ should _I_ know?!” Lovino then sighed, and carefully helped Feliciano to his feet. “Here, let’s try to get back up to ground level.” Feliciano nodded his head, wincing as he did so, as they supported each other back through the tunnels and towards the surface.

They finally came to a wall. The other nations thought that maybe they’d hit their heads a bit hard, and were lost, but Lovino proved them wrong when he slid his finger down an almost non-existent crack in the wall. It slid open like the entrance did.

The other nations expected sunlight, fresh air, ash, smoke, perhaps evidence of bombings, but nothing could’ve prepared them for what they saw.

“Mon Dieu…” France breathed, as the other nations all let out similar expressions of horror in their native tongues.

“Ro-Romano…? What happened?” Feliciano gasped out, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Lovino and Romano were in similar states of shock.

The entire city before them, lay covered in a thick layer of ash, dust, and who-knows-what-else. Buildings lay in rubble, and people were crying in shock, anguish, pain, and grief, trying to make sense of what was going on around them… of what had just happened.

Romano finally understood why Veneziano had developed such a strong fear as he had… The collapsing of the tunnel was terrifying enough, but to see something like this immediately afterwards…? Subconsciously, Veneziano had associated the two with one another, and it only served to intensify the fear… Then if you add in the pain…

“Fratello…?” Feliciano started weakly. Lovino gave a noncommittal grunt, still in shock himself. “I think…” He had to pause to cough up some blood, as the memory around them darkened considerably, startling the others. “How many people did we lose…?” He asked in a tired, almost broken voice. Lovino looked around them, the disaster seeming unreal… “I… don’t know… I can’t tell our physical injuries from our nation ones… But… I’d guess probably a few thousand… perhaps more…”

“I’d say about 100,000 or more…” Feliciano whispered as he coughed up some more blood, Lovino doing the same. They slid down the alley’s wall, side by side, as the memory continued to darken. “Our nation connection… it seems muted… I don’t think we’ve received the full brunt yet…” Feliciano muttered again, as Lovino hummed quietly in agreement.

“What…?” One of the other nations whispered, but nobody paid them any attention, too horrified at the scene before them.

“Fratello…?” Feliciano asked again, barely conscious; his voice sounded far away to the observing nations. “What are we going to do?”

There was a pause, and for a moment, they thought that maybe Lovino had fallen asleep. “Rest… We’ll rest for now, and figure out what happened tomorrow…” He trailed off as the memory finally faded to black.


	3. Verità

They found themselves in that same white expanse as before. “What… did we just see?” England asked, still trying to comprehend the destruction that they’d witnessed.

“The beginning of the end.” Italy said. “That was the start of the apocalypse.”

“The _start_? That was only the _start?!_ ” Prussia yelled out, not wanting to believe that it had actually happened.

“Si…”

“Wait… If that was something that jumpstarted the end of the world, then I am thinking that it was a bit small, Da?” Russia finally spoke up; making a few nations who’d forgotten that he was there, jump.

“The explosion that you saw didn’t occur in Italy.”

“WHAT?!” They all cried.

“But! How?! You mean to tell me that that explosion happened in _another_ _nation?!_ What could possibly make an explosion _that_ big?! That’d kill thousands of people in an entirely _different_ country in an instant?!” America shouted out in shock.

“Ve… I’ll explain from the beginning, since I doubt that it’ll be explained through the memories.” Italy finally relented, gesturing for the others to sit down on the ground with him, his brother still keeping his hold on him, for which Italy was secretly grateful. “The blast was centered in America.” The entire room went still, as America paled drastically.

“What…? But… _me?!_ _I_ … caused that? Bu–! But, how…?” America shook a little, reminding the other nations just how young he really was compared to the rest of them.

“I’ll explain. It was one of your nuclear power plants. Something malfunctioned in one of your power plants in Tennessee… That flower that I was researching before? Its pollen reacted violently with the power plant’s failure, and the molecular structure was changed by the direct radioactivity. It basically became the trigger for every nuclear power plant in the world. The pollen was small enough to fit through the air-ducts and ventilation shafts in the power plants. Once it got in, it’d explode—the power plant, not the pollen. And due to how fast the pollen travels when airborne, it… It set off every nuclear power plant you had, America… In less than 5 minutes, your entire nation was obliterated. The land itself was blown apart into small, uninhabitable island chains… and the pollen spread all over the earth, setting off every nuclear power plant around the globe.” The nations all paled, very glad that they were already sitting. “America died instantly… France was heavily injured, but managed to survive… Japan managed to be alright, somehow… but… Most of Europe was obliterated like America was. A rather large chunk of Northern Italy was blown off the map, too… Everything… every _one_ from France—including a large chunk of Eastern Spain—eastward to Ukraine—the UK and, as I said before, a large chunk of Northern Italy included—was completely and utterly destroyed… though a handful of the European Nations managed to survive… Somehow.”

Italy took a shaky breath to steady himself again. “Billions of people died in the span of 10 minutes… Countless more would die over the next few months and years due to radiation poisoning…” He trailed off. “Did you know? Nations are immune to direct radiation poisoning. At least… we were… Constant exposure will eventually affect us just as it would a human.”

“I take it you found this out the hard way?” Romano finally asked, finding his voice again.

“Sort of… It wasn’t me, but… Ve…” He looked down, losing himself in the memories for a moment, before looking back up again.

The others just stared… They couldn’t believe what they’d just been told… what they’d just seen. The apocalypse?! Caused by nuclear power plants, of all things… It was _their_ fault… All their fault…

“If… if it was that bad… then shouldn’t you two have been more injured, aru?” China asked quietly.

“The radioactive pollen somehow messed with our connection to our nation. It still came, but it was just… delayed. It wasn’t for another three days that we finally felt the full effects.” Italy stated, shuddering slightly, as his hand traveled to his left side.

Before anyone else could say anything, another memory faded into existence. They found themselves in a rather calm and—to some—familiar living room, though the only light-source was the fire in the fireplace.

“Ve… This is one of the few houses that we own that survived the blast…” Italy whispered, knowing full well exactly what they were about to witness.

“Veneziano…?” Romano asked quietly, though it was so silent that everyone heard.

“It… This is three days after the initial blast… It was when the full force of our connection…” He trailed off as the others paled.

“Romano…?” Feliciano asked as he walked into the room, only for Lovino to sit up from the couch he was laying on. Lovino’s left ankle was securely wrapped, along with his right wrist; they were obviously sprained. Both brothers had some bandages wrapped around their heads, and Feliciano moved gingerly—apparently he had some cracked ribs—his left arm in a sling, and his right ankle wrapped up.

“Shut up! I don’t feel very good… I think the connection’s finally coming through again. Damnit. Stupid fucking thing…” Lovino muttered as he lay back on the couch. “I wish the fucking electricity was working. Damnit! What I wouldn’t give for a nice cold glass of water! Is that too much to ask?! I mean, not even wine, but just some iced water!” He sat up as he continued his rant. “Or some heating or something! I mean seriously, I just—!” Lovino cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath as he gripped his right side.

“Fratello…?” Feliciano asked worriedly, before he saw that Lovino’s blue shirt was bleeding red. “Oh no… I’ll be right back!” Feliciano shot out, before hobbling as fast as he could towards the bathrooms where they kept the first-aid and trauma kits.

Seconds later, Feliciano raced back into the room—ignoring his own injured ankle and broken arm—and handed Lovino a couple of painkillers as he worked on removing the shirt to treat the injury.

Lovino took the pills gratefully, but started to wave Feliciano’s worrying hands away.

“I’m fine, idiota… Just a few cuts…” He muttered as two deep gashes were shown in his right side. Feliciano didn’t say anything; he simply started sewing Lovino up with steady, experienced hands—once again, ignoring his broken arm.

“You’ve… done this before?” America asked, surprised. Of all nations, he’d thought that Italy would be the last to be trusted in a medical situation…

“Si. You’re forgetting that Romano and I are actually older than Japan, we’ve been in many dangerous situations before.”

“YOU’RE _WHAT?!_ ” Multiple nations shouted at once, as Italy covered his sensitive ears.

“Nani? You didn’t know?” Japan asked, enjoying their shock almost as much as Italy and Romano were. Though Japan himself only found out about it within the past century.

The other nations continued to gape until Feliciano’s voice drew their attention back to the memory. “There. All done.” They looked to see an expertly sewn-up Lovino.

Italy tensed slightly, and covered his ears, motioning for Japan (who had fantastic hearing anyways) and Romano to do the same. Confused, they did so just as Feliciano let out a bloodcurdling scream filled with so much pain, that every single nation in the room cringed.

Feliciano’s left side started to bleed heavily, much to the room’s alarm.

“VENEZIANO?!” Lovino cried out, practically ripping the shirt off of his little brother to see what was wrong. What they saw made everyone gasp.

A very large chunk of Feliciano’s left side was missing, from the bottom part of his ribcage (some of it was visible through the blood) to his hipbone. It honestly looked like someone decided to take a sharp and slightly wide trenching shovel and dig it into his side, ripping out a large chunk.

Lovino started to panic, along with Romano and quite a few other nations in the room. “Crap! I have to calm down.” Lovino took a shaky breath to steady himself, as he dug through the medical kits to start treating Feliciano’s wound.

Time seemed to speed up, almost as if someone hit a fast-forward button. Before anyone could ask what was going on, it went back to normal speed again, showing a sleeping Feliciano, an exhausted Lovino, and a horrid, yet expertly treated wound.

The whole room seemed to let out a sigh of relief with Lovino that everything was going to be okay as the memory faded out and they found themselves back in the endless whiteness of the Aurora.

“How deep was it, aru?” China asked, curious. They couldn’t really tell with all the gauzes and bandages wrapped around the wound. Italy gave a slightly bitter smile for a moment, before lifting the edge of his shirt.

They gasped again, seeing the scar—if it could even be called that—of the wound they’d just seen him obtain. It looked _really_ old, too… But what had made them gasp was that it was about 5 inches tall or so, from the hipbone area up, and roughly 6 inches deep towards the bellybutton. It looked like something out of a horror movie. It was just… gone. How had they not noticed the bagginess of his shirt before? How had they not _noticed_ anything wrong with their friend? He’d already gone through so much… So much, and yet… they’d done nothing to help… to notice…

Italy lowered his shirt. “Likely, it won’t be shown, because nothing truly note-worthy happened during this time—well, nothing note-worthy happened to Romano and I—but you all should know… You see, due to the pollen also reacting with the large amount of pollution in the air, the entire world was encased in darkness… For nine months, there was no sunlight anywhere on Earth. It was called the Nine Months of Darkness.” America snorted slightly.

“That’s what they called it? They really couldn’t come up with anything more creative?”

“Well, I didn’t decide it! People just started calling it that, and it stuck!” Italy half-muttered indignantly. “Now, if I may?”

“Sorry.” America replied sheepishly as England gave him a warning glance.

Italy only rolled his eyes slightly, having missed the childishness of the nation. “The Nine Months of Darkness, in addition to the initial explosions, caused the largest mass-extinction in the history of the world, even more disastrous than the Precambrian extinction. More than 99.9% of all plant life died, and more than 98% of all life on earth—land and sea—perished as well, humans included. By the time the sun finally rose again, the entire land was nothing but ruin… No green, no life… just… death…” He shivered, clearly recalling what it had looked like.

The others only stared in shock. They couldn’t imagine it. They just simply couldn’t imagine such a world…

Turns out, they didn’t have to. As the next memory flashed in, it actually started off somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 ft in the air. The nations all screamed a bit, before they realized that they weren’t falling. It wasn’t until they confirmed that they were safe from such a painful death, that they really looked at the ground below them.

It was like something out of one of Japan’s animes, some sci-fi or post-apocalyptic thing… only it wasn’t an anime… it was real. For Italy, this had happened.

Italy immediately recognized the area below them. Amidst a forest of brown, dead trees filled with dead foliage and rotting animal carcasses, causing the place to reek—not that they could smell it, but one’s memory didn’t forget these types of smells—he pointed towards a field of what had once been flowers.

“Look. Do you see that?” He asked, as the others looked closer.

“Is there something… moving down there?” Canada asked, making the other nations jump at his voice.

“Si… those are all insects.”

“EWW! Somebody grab some Raid!” America cried out. He wasn’t a squeamish guy, but _that_ many bugs that made the ground look like a floodplain? That was waaaay too many for his tastes.

“Raid won’t do anyone any good. They’re immune. They’ve been altered by the radioactivity. They’re called Contaminoids, or will be one day. They’re flesh-eating insects with a taste for humans, and they’re _very_ dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Aren’t they a little small to be considered dangerous? I mean sure, in a large group like _that_ they would surely eat you alive, but couldn’t you just squish them before they rally like this?” England asked, eyeing the Contaminoid larva uncertainly. After all, they were only the size of large rats.

“Those are only the larva. They’re just babies, newly born, and starving. When she’s done breeding, the mother usually offers herself up as food for the larva, but if there’s another food source nearby…”

“Wait, they’re only ze babies?! Mon Cher! Zat’s ‘orrible! We _must_ prevent zis!” France cried out dramatically.

“No duh.” Italy muttered before speaking up in a louder voice. “At this point, they’ve only just started to evolve. They’re probably about one twentieth of the way through their evolutionary chain. They still have another 300-some-odd years of evolution before they reach their final stage. That is, the Contaminoid species as a whole, not the larva.” He clarified.

“Wait, are you meaning to say that these little bitty bugs will become stronger?” Russia asked.

“I think the more important issue is that you just said _three hundred years!_ The fuck?! Do you mean to tell me that you had to go through this for three _hundred_ years?!” Romano shouted, worried for his fratellino’s sanity if he’d had to survive like this for over 300 years. Because the way he’d talked about it, made it sound like he’d lived longer than 300 years… But Romano couldn’t help but wonder… where was _his_ future self? Not the memory one, but his _actual_ future self. He knew for a fact that he wouldn’t let his fratellino travel back in time to prevent the apocalypse by himself! So where was he? Veneziano wouldn’t leave him behind, either, unless he was badly hurt or unable to travel… and there was a small window in which to travel back… Or unless he was dead.

He shuddered. Not at the thought of his death, but at the thought of leaving Veneziano alone in this kind of world for any length of time. Especially when it seemed like they were all each other had at this point… No. He wouldn’t die… Maybe something just went wrong with the spell or something? Time traveling isn’t exactly something that one can practice, after all. But still… if it was something else…

He also cringed away from the thought of being too sick or—God forbid— _disabled_ to travel back in time. Was he dying? Was he really too ill to help his fratellino? Was he lying somewhere in an alternate future, wasting away and wondering why the fuck he wasn’t better yet? No… He’d follow his fratellino into the depths of hell even if he had to walk on his _hands_! No injury or illness or disability would stop him!

But what if he was—

“ _Fratello._ ” Italy stated, snapping Romano out of his rapidly darkening train of thought. “You’ll find everything out, don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“Idiota… Over 300 years… You’re _not_ fine.”

Before Italy could reply, the scene changed again. This time, they were in a bustling city. It was dark out, and it seemed like nothing had happened.

“Where are we?” America asked, trying to place the city they were in. It looked quite a bit like one of his, but it wasn’t anything he recognized either…

“We’re in Eon. It’s a large city in the ruins of Italy.” Veneziano stated.

“Don’t say “in the ruins of Italy” so nonchalantly!” Romano demanded, still scared for his brother’s mental health and stability.

“Fratello…” Italy sighed. “Sorry; I just say these things… I’m so used to it now… It’s actually strange to think of nations like Italy as _not_ in ruins… It’s so strange to feel my nation again… Don’t get me wrong! I love it! I’m so grateful to feel my people and my _lands_ again! But it’s just… different… I’ve grown so used to feeling only myself and Glendan…”

“Glendan?” Canada asked quietly.

“Oh, you’ll find out about Glendan and the rest of the Regios in future memories, I’m sure. For now… Well, this is only about 50 TF.” Italy stated, turning back to the memory, unaware of the confused looks being directed towards his back.

“TF?” England inquired.

“Oh, TF is what was used after the Apocalypse. It’s like BC or AD; it stands for Tempore Finis.”

“Tempore Finis? Latin for End Time… How fitting…” England trailed off as the rest of the nations turned back to the memory.

Feliciano and Lovino were shown walking down the street at night. There were a few crowds milling about, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the nations were used to… It seemed to really hit home for some of them… This was a large city, right? But there could only be a few thousand people here…

“Fratello.” Feliciano spoke firmly and seriously, something that the other nations weren’t used to at all.

Lovino looked up and gave a single firm nod, before the two of them dashed down an alleyway at full speed, causing the nations to dash after them. They stopped at a dead end and whirled around, knives in their hands.

“What the—?!” The other nations cried out in shock, not only because of the sudden dashing, but also the knives. Plus, they’d never seen such a dark look on Feliciano’s face before… and with that knife in his hand…? Even Russia was slightly intimidated, though he’d neither show it, nor would he ever admit it.

Before anyone could say anything more, three large men ran down the alleyway behind them. “STOP!” One of the men yelled, as Feliciano rolled his eyes.

“We’re at a dead-end. Do they even need to tell us to stop?” He asked dryly, as Lovino simply rolled his eyes in response.

“We’ve got you now! Vargas Brothers! You’ve caused a lot of trouble for the Boss… We’re going to make sure that stops now.”

“Vhat are zey talking about?” Germany asked, confused and worried. Had Italy gotten into trouble again? Why couldn’t he just keep his nose out of dangerous situations?

Italy said nothing, as Feliciano and Lovino smirked wickedly. “Oh, it’s so good to know that he considers us enough of a threat to send some thugs after us, isn’t it Lovi?” Feliciano asked playfully, ignoring the danger completely. He looked amusedly bored with the situation; as if this sort of thing happened all the time.

“Si… Though he _should_ consider us more of a threat. After all, we _did_ blow up 5 of his main labs.” Lovino replied in the same tone.

“You _what?!_ ” America shouted, unable to imagine Italy blowing something up… Romano? Yea, he could see that… But Italy? Not on purpose.

“Ve? Well, we thought that their big boss-man was inside, so we blew up the first one, but he wasn’t… So we decided to just piss the bastard off by blowing up the rest~” Italy chirped cheerfully.

“You tried to _kill_ a human, aru?!” China shouted, shocked—the rest were too shocked by his cussing to say anything. While there weren’t really any ‘rules’ per-say for nations, it wasn’t like they could just go around killing humans. The only time that it was really acceptable was during wartime… To just try to kill a human for no reason, or for a ‘human’ motive was almost unheard of!

“The bastardo deserved it. Such a shame we never got him…” Italy muttered, before Romano wacked the back of his head.

“ _Language!_ ”

“Really?!” Italy shot back, with a look that clearly said ‘ _You’re_ telling _me_ to mind _my_ language?!’

Before their argument could continue, two of the three men rushed them with knives of their own. It was almost too fast for the other nations (sans Japan and China) to see, but in an instant, the two men were lying on the ground with blood pooling around them. They were obviously dead.

The nations just stared at Romano and Italy as Feliciano and Lovino stood there, looking for all the world like they hadn’t just killed two men. Italy and Romano looked just as bored and disinterested as their past counterparts.

Of course, what the other nations didn’t know was that they’d killed many times. They _were_ the head of the Mafioso, after all. They’d worked their way up the ranks to the very top, and they both had a lot of blood on their hands.

Before anyone could say anything, though, the third guy who’d stayed back whipped out a gun, and started firing at the brothers.

“YOU BASTARDS!” He yelled.

“Really? Romano, what do you think? Should we send a message back to the big-guy?” Feliciano asked, disinterested as he effortlessly dodged every bullet.

“Good idea. Would you like to take care of it while I clean up the mess?” Lovino replied, dodging the bullets as effortlessly as his brother.

“Grazie, fratello~ You know how I hate clean-up~” Feliciano chirped, as he shot forward with incredible speed, seemingly teleporting in front of the man, and grabbing the gun with his hand.

The man yelled in surprise, as he whipped out his own knife, and stabbed Feliciano in the leg. Feliciano only winced slightly at the knife digging deep into his flesh. He grabbed the wrist that stabbed him, and cleanly snapped it with a sickening crack without even a blink.

“You’re a monster!” The man cried, as his eyes darted around, trying to find some hope of escape.

“Nu-uh~ I need you to deliver a little message to your boss~” Feliciano chirped, as he broke the man’s other arm with a chilling smile on his face. He lowered his voice to a demonic growl—the dangerous aura around him practically tangible—as his golden eyes narrowed into malicious slits.

“I want you to tell Ignacius that the Vargas Brothers are coming. Tell him that we’re going to stop him, and that there’s no place on this earth that he can hide from us. We’re coming, and the Devil himself won’t stop us.” Feliciano let loose a feral, bloodthirsty grin, as the man fell to his butt and a suspicious wet-patch spread along the man’s front pants.

Lovino stepped forward, with two small bags that fit snugly in the palm of his hands. He dropped the bags in the man’s lap, and stated with a bone-chilling chuckle, “Take your friends back to your boss, too. Tell him we have a special bag, just for him. Ciao.”

The nations who were more aware of their environment, such as Japan, noticed that the bodies of the two dead men were gone, as was any evidence that they’d even been there at all.

Almost as if on-cue, a black car with heavily tinted windows rolled up to the entrance of the alleyway. The two nations climbed in without a glance back, looking like nothing had happened.

The nations were too stunned to move, but the scene flashed and they appeared in the back of the car. There was a familiar girl driving, and an unfamiliar man in the passenger seat. He had unruly black hair, with a dark black trench coat and black gloves. He also had an eye patch over one eye, with a scar visible over said eye under the eye patch. He turned to look at Feliciano and Lovino with his remaining dark grey eye. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and a silver gun on his hip.

“Getting into trouble again, Feliciano? Lovino?” He asked, amused, as he handed a clean bandage strip to Feliciano before turning forward again.

“Trouble? Nah, just dealing with a few pests.” Lovino replied easily, obviously familiar with the man, as he helped Feliciano treat the stab wound to his left leg.

“Thanks for the getaway, though. Perfect timing as always, Saya.” Feliciano stated, flashing a smile to the girl driving, who only nodded in response.

She had long black hair, and shadowy-blue eyes that seemed void of emotion. She had a gothic-style black choker around her neck with a Celtic cross woven into the fabric, and a matching black strapless dress. A red rose with silver ribbon was pinned to the dress above her left breast. She held an ethereal, other-worldly feel about her. If they didn’t know any better, the nations would believe her to be some sort of beautiful ghost or immortal vampire… Perhaps even a forbidden, deadly siren, calling with an untouchable beauty.

“So who _were_ those guys? And what _was_ that back there?!” America finally blurted out, being the first to pull out of his shock.

“Ve… Those men were after us because we’d been interfering with their boss’s pet project. Their boss is a man named Ignacius. While I’m sure it would’ve happened eventually, he sped up the process of the creation of Contaminoids. At this point in time, they’re only the size of a large rat, but the ones he had been making… They were large enough to bite a human in half.” The others shivered at the thought of a bug _that_ big.

 _I almost hate to see what their reactions will be to the size that the Contaminoids actually grow to…_ Italy thought to himself.

“Ah, so zat’s why you blew up ze labs, oui?” France asked.

“Yup~”

“But… what bothers me is how easily you killed those humans…” England spoke just above a whisper…

Italy and Romano shared a glance. “We’re the Mafioso. We’re used to killing humans.” Romano finally stated.

The others blinked a few times as the words finally clicked. “WHAT?!” They cried out in shock. “Surely you don’t mean that you’re _in_ the Mafia?!” England shouted out.

“We’re not _in_ the Mafia.” Italy stated. “We _are_ the Mafia. We have total control of it. Together, we are the Head of the strongest, most powerful Mafioso Famiglia in Italy. We _control_ the criminal underworld of Italy.” He finished, making the jaws of all the nations—even Spain—drop.

Though Japan only widened his eyes slightly. After all, who was he to judge? He controlled the Yakuza in the same way that the Italy twins controlled the Mafia. Huhuhu…

“So any new leads?” Lovino asked, snapping the nations’ attention back to the memory.

“None yet. We’re looking into a new contract, so we won’t see you for a while. Be careful. The inhuman beings are everywhere these days.” The man said, turning to look at them with a serious gaze.

“Inhuman beings, aru?”

“Si… Basically, they’re bio-mutations caused by the nuclear radiation all over the world. Anything that survived was still affected on some level by the radiation… Even the humans. They are literally non-humans. Sometimes, humans were badly affected by the radiation, deforming in both body and mind, and becoming something of a talking monster with no real free will; just instinct. Thankfully, most humans just started to develop this extra organ called the kei organ.” Italy explained.

“The _what_ , aru? Another organ? What is it?” China asked, curious. As someone who was extremely well-versed in the medical field, he was very interested in the development of an entirely new organ in the human body.

“They didn’t become developed enough for anyone to notice for another 30 years or so, and they weren’t fully evolved for another 260-some-odd years. I won’t bother explaining what its function is, yet, but I _will_ tell you something that I think you might find interesting; every single nation that exists, has ever existed, or will ever exist, has a kei organ. For the most part, it’s just too small for anyone to notice, but with proper exercise of the organ, it’ll grow. Mine’s pretty big, even for a nation in the future, and I can utilize it rather well. America’s is also larger than yours, though still very small compared to mine. His kei organ is the reason why he’s so physically strong.”

“Really?! Dude! That’s totally awesome! So, it’s like I have this super-power?! Sweet!” America pumped his fist in the air in excitement. “You _have_ to teach me how to use it~!”

“Sorry, but if I do teach you, I’ll be teaching _everyone_. So don’t count on it. We don’t need them in anymore.” Italy said with a slight sigh of thankfulness. _So glad we don’t need them in our time…_

They turned back to the memory, now understanding a bit more of the conversation than they did earlier.

“Right. You guys be careful, too. Even the best can slip.” Feliciano reminded them, before smiling as he gazed out the window again. “You know, we can’t live in these Domes forever… the Inhuman Beings are becoming too strong. They may be weak now, but they’re growing rapidly. It’s only a matter of time…”

“What do you propose? You and your brother may be fine out there, but humans can only survive for 5 days at most.” Saya said, not taking her eyes off the road.

“Domes? Five days? What are you talking about?” England asked, already lost in the conversation again.

“The pollution in the air reacted negatively with the nuclear blast and the subsequent radiation. The air slowly started to become acidic. At this point, it wasn’t much, but any human could only be out there for about five days before their lungs would give out. The acidic air literally eats your lungs from the inside out. Though nations can survive for about 5 weeks out there before starting to feel the effects. As such, Domes were built around cities and towns. Each Dome was fitted with a powerful air-filter, and the Dome itself was strongly reinforced to withstand any of the radiation-mutated creatures on the outside. But the Contaminoids were growing rapidly, and they were getting stronger. We knew that they’d break the Domes before long. So we came up with an alternative.”

Before anyone could ask him what that alternative was, Feliciano spoke up again.

“We’re not entirely sure yet, but there isn’t much time.” He stated firmly.

“We’re actually planning on taking a break from our pursuit to devote our time to this. If our calculations are correct, then we only have 90 years or so before the air becomes too toxic for even our air purifiers to fully cleanse, and for those monsters to become strong enough to break through the Dome’s walls.” Lovino stated. The man simply nodded, as Saya pulled up to a small, inconspicuous house.

“Thanks again for the ride~” Feliciano called back as he got out of the car, Lovino right behind him.

“No problem! Be careful, and good luck!” The man called back, waving.

“You too!” Lovino said as they drove off, the memory fading back to that white abyss known as the Aurora.

Before anyone could say anything more, the next memory appeared. The nations looked around, finding themselves in an enormous warehouse, probably the size of a large city. It went on for miles.

“Wow, what _is_ this place, aru?” China asked in wonder.

“Ah, this is the private building lab of myself and Romano. We already owned the land, and built this warehouse there, to keep the Contaminoids away, seeing as we’re currently outside of the Dome.”

“It’s huge!” Prussia shouted out, listening to the echo, as he laughed to himself. “I AM AWESOME!” He shouted again, listening with glee as his voice faintly repeated his words back.

“Zat’s enough, bruder…” Germany sighed, as Feliciano and Lovino walked in.

“Fratello… they didn’t listen. We told them that the Domes weren’t safe anymore; that the Contaminoids are growing too big and too strong… We even proposed our idea, but they didn’t listen!” Feliciano shouted out in frustration.

“It’s okay. They’re just idiots. We have the materials we need, and the basic blueprints. It _is_ our idea, after all. We just need to build it.” Lovino stated.

“But Fratello… It’s so _big!_ It’ll take decades with just the two of us!”

“We don’t have a choice, Veneziano! We _have_ to do this… Or we’ll lose everyone…”

Feliciano seemed to harden in resolve. “You’re right, fratello. You work on the mechanics, and I’ll take on the aesthetics and we’ll tackle any issues together.”

“Right. Hey, wait! Who put _you_ in charge?! _I’m_ the fratello, here!” Lovino suddenly shouted out, before giving his little brother a smirk, “Well, let’s get to work! We have a lot to do if we’re going to get this thing done in time!”

“What are you working on?” Japan asked, terribly curious.

“Ve~ We knew that the Domes that people were living in at this point weren’t going to last much longer. This is about 135 TF, by the way. The Contaminoids ranged from the size of a small cat or dog to the size of a big dog—like a Great Dane, though those were really rare—so you could imagine how much damage they were causing.” Again, the other nations shivered at the thought of bugs getting that big. “So Fratello and I came up with the idea of moving domes… They would move around, and avoid any detectable Contaminoids, and have extremely powerful air-filters that were made to work with the air friction created by the moving dome, that we would eventually call a Regios.”

“A moving city?!” America shouted out. “That sounds so cool!” His eyes shined like a kid on Christmas.

The memory seemed to fast-forward again. Day and night, it showed Feliciano and Lovino only leaving the lab a handful of times, it seemed.

“We were forced to leave the lab for a few days every 5 weeks or so, because our lungs couldn’t take the outside air any longer than that without roughly 3 days reprieve.” Italy stated.

“What?! You shouldn’t be putting yourselves in danger like that, aru!” China glared at Italy and Romano.

“Hey! I haven’t done this shit yet! Besides… It’s to save what little people we have left.” Romano stated, looking off to the side. The other nations stopped their protests, knowing that they’d do the same in such a situation.

“Si… The people in Eon… they were among the last of the Italian race.” Italy stated, as the other nations gasped at the revelation. They’d thought that there were more cities, but…

“You mean… that’s it…?” England asked, shocked

“Yes… There had been other cities before, but they’d become overrun with Contaminoids or inhuman beings. Either way, each city fell one by one. At this point, there were only three cities left—Eon, Virsa, and Venezia. Virsa fell after we completed the Regios. They hadn’t finished building theirs before the attack… And Venezia… She fell, too… We were able to rescue about 195 people and move them to our Regios, but the other 5,000-some-odd people died. In all, world population at this point was less than one million.” The nations couldn’t breathe for a moment. _Less than a million?!_ They couldn’t comprehend the thought. Sure, those like China and Japan could remember a time when world population had been low, but for it to plummet from the billions to less than a million in only half a century?! It was unheard of!

The memory slowed down again, to show a giant wall. It was probably about as wide as two or three (or ten) cities lined up side-by-side, and taller than ten Eiffel towers, it seemed. They couldn’t see the top.

“Wow! It’s huge! So AWESOME!” Prussia shouted, making the nations jump. He’d been so quiet, they’d actually forgotten he was there. “Kesesese! Ze Awesome Me, is so Awesome zat I _can_ be quiet if I want to. Kesesesese~!”

“This is 155 TF.” Italy stated, deciding to ignore Prussia for the time being.

“Wait, it’s been 20 years?!” England shouted out, surprised.

“Si. And this is the finished product!” Italy stated with pride. “The first Regios; Glendan!” As he said this, the memory seemed to zoom out, so that they could get a good view of it. The nations were speechless. It was a breathtaking achievement, and for two people to build such a thing alone, in only 20 years?! Incredible!

“Everyone in Eon moved to Glendan throughout the next few months, which is good, because not even a few weeks after they moved, Eon was destroyed and overrun with Contaminoids. The Regios blueprints were sent to all other cities across the world, and the Regios became the only way for mankind to survive in this new world, seeing as the air grew to become much more toxic as time went on… In fact, by the time we finished, the toxicity had more than doubled! Romano and I could only stand to be out there for about 2 weeks at a time, but we wore special masks we invented to allow ourselves to continue working out there for 5 weeks at a time, like usual. In only a few decades, those masks would become absolutely useless, and we’d need to invent new ones for ourselves and the humans. But Glendan is the only Regios that uses Italian soil and plants. It is the only Regios that encompasses the spirit of Italy… that represents _us_.” Italy finished, pride shining in his eyes. It was glaringly obvious that he was very proud of their accomplishment.

The memory flashed again, and they found themselves in what they assumed to be Glendan. It was filled with people, milling about going about their own business. Though they were standing in a lavish office, with an obvious (to some) French flair, the view out the wall-sized window was amazing.

“So zis is Glendan? Amazing~” France appraised, though the architecture, in his opinion, was a little more French than Italian…

“Yea~ Pretty Awesome! But it doesn’t look quite as big as before…?” Prussia said. He may act like an idiot most of the time, but he _was_ a pretty powerful nation at one point. He was also rather observant. One didn’t pick a fight with Russia and be oblivious to the world, after all.

“No. This isn’t Glendan. We not only built it, but we also lived there for a good number of decades. I’d recognize it anywhere… This isn’t a Regios I recognize. But then again, by 165 TF, everyone lived in Regios…” Italy trailed off, puzzled.

“I never visited this Regios, so I can only assume that this isn’t one of my memories. Likely, it’s something that either Saya wants us to see, or something that the Aurora decided.” Italy concluded.

“Okay… So do you have any idea about what year it is…?” America asked, but before he could answer, the soft and quiet voice of Canada sighed out, “196 TF…”

Everyone looked at a blushing Canada, who quickly stated, “It wasn’t me! Look!” And sure enough, they followed his finger to find Matthew Williams, past Canada (future Canada?), sitting behind a desk, looking out the window.

Italy’s eyes widened, as he realized that he’d finally learn of Canada’s fate.

Matthew looked to a stuffed bear that somewhat resembled Kumajiro. “Kumajiro… I miss you so much… I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you like you did me… I would’ve died in that blast without you… thank you…” He stated quietly, as Canada gripped his Kumajiro tightly, horrified at the thought of losing him.

Matthew then started to move out from around the desk, but to their horror, they found that he was in a wheelchair. Both of his legs were gone. From just above the knees, both legs were just… _gone_.

“Mattie!” America shouted, gripping Canada tightly, horrified that his twin would lose both of his legs. “You are _not allowed_ to lose your legs, got it?!” He cried out. Canada smiled slightly, and nodded his head, but his free hand went to his leg. He didn’t want to be crippled for life like that… He didn’t want to lose his ability to walk… ever…

“Mon Dieu!” France cried out, bringing his son into a hug, and somehow not knocking America out of the way. As the FACE family comforted their quietest member, Matthew spoke again, holding up a letter.

“I’m glad the Italy twins are alright. Though this rifle they sent me is interesting… It channels kei, huh? They said it should be able to damage, and perhaps even kill, a Contaminoid… Sounds interesting…” He stated, as he held up a rather metallic-looking rifle, colored red and white with maple leaves all over it.

While Matthew was admiring the rifle, Italy finally decided to explain about kei. “Kei is an energy source for most every human and nation at this point in time. The kei organ won’t be fully evolved until about 450-500 TF, but—”

“Wait, five _hundred_ TF?! FIVE _HUNDRED?!_ ” Romano shrieked at the information.

“Si… I’m sure you’ll all find out eventually, but the year that I headed back in time was 5,000 TF.” Italy stopped to let them digest this, as he covered his ears to block out the resounding shouts of shock. Even Japan looked at him in shock.

“Aiyaa… You’re older than me, aru…” China said, trying to relieve some of the tension, which worked with some but not with everyone. Even China was horrified. The Italy twins were already older than Japan, meaning that they were at _least_ 2,600 years old… But add 5,000 years to that? Italy was over 7,600 years old! That was more than just old, that was _ancient!_ And China complained about _his_ bad back! He’d have to give Italy a thorough medical check-up later, and prescribe some pain medications for his aches and pains if he needed them… He suspected that he would. After all, he was bound to have quite a few injuries from living that long and fighting the Contaminoids, but also that acidic air… His lungs had to have accumulated some sort of damage over the millennia.

Romano seemed to take this news the hardest. “Five thousand years… Five _thousand_ years… _Five. Thousand. Fucking. Years!_ Where the hell am I?! Where the _fucking hell_ is my future self?! Why didn’t he come back with you?! Huh?! _Why?!_ ” Romano shouted out in fury, he wasn’t mad with Veneziano, of course not. He was angry with himself. It was obvious that something happened, but he just wished he knew _what!_

“I…” Italy started, not knowing how to say it. “I’ll… I don’t want to talk about it… please…? It’ll come up eventually, but until then… please don’t make me say it…” Italy whispered. He looked so broken in that moment, that nobody had the heart to push the issue. Romano just wrapped him in a hug.

“Lo siento, fratellino…” Romano whispered to his brother.

“Grazie, fratello… Ve. Ti voglio bene…” Italy whispered back.

“Chigi. Ti voglio bene.”

Before anyone could say anything else, everything started shaking. It reminded them of the tunnels, and several nations cried out in shock, not expecting it. Italy shivered, knowing what this particular kind of shaking meant.

“No!” Matthew shouted, running to the windows as the shaking stopped and a siren alarm started sounding. Italy and Matthew both started cussing up a storm, though Italy was cursing in an unfamiliar language that none of the nations recognized. It sounded a little bit like Japanese, but at the same time it sounded very different; Japan could only make out a few words. Romano and England hit Italy and Canada in the back of the head respectively.

“Ow! What was _that_ for?!” Italy demanded, still in battle-ready mode.

“No cussing!” Romano shouted. He may not have understood what his brother was saying, but it was obvious what it was.

“What are you hitting _me_ for?!” Canada demanded, “I didn’t cuss! My future self did!” He whisper-shouted. Though he was surprised, his future self was still cussing, and quite loudly, at that. But he _never_ cussed! EVER! Even during the World Wars, he didn’t curse! And his future self was so _loud!_ He was actually cussing in an honest _yelling_ voice!

“You’re _Canada!_ ” America said, “You’re not supposed to curse!”

“ _Stop_ _playing_ _around!_ ” Italy snapped, startling the other nations with his war-general tone. “You have _no idea_ how grave the situation really is! The Regios has fallen into a Contaminoid nest! They nest underground, and the Regios can only detect the Contaminoids _at ground level!_ Those larvae are starving, and while they’re only the size of hippos or elephants right now, there’ll be hundreds of thousands, perhaps even _millions_ of them! There’re no Dites yet! The humans have no way of defending themselves! This Regios is _doomed_ , and so is everyone in it! Get it?! Unless some miracle happens, Canada and every person in this Regios is _going to die._ ” He spoke with a grave anger, ranting out his frustrations at how they didn’t grasp the situation.

He was stunned by how easily they could just play around. They had no clue what he’d gone through! How dangerous this future truly was! He now understood why Saya insisted on them seeing these memories. Even with what they’ve already seen and what he’s explained, they truly did not grasp the situation. In all honesty, Italy truly believed that if they were to go back to that Meeting Room right now, that this future would absolutely, without a doubt, come to pass.

The other nations seemed to stop breathing, the words choking them. ‘ _going to die… going to die… Canada is going to die…’_ the words ringing throughout the mind of every nation. The FACE family seemed to gravitate even more towards their now sheet-white Canadian, as the nations finally seemed to get the severity of the situation through their thick heads.

Before anyone could say anything, Matthew wheeled himself to the window, staring out of it, to see hundreds—perhaps thousands—of very large, hard-shelled… insect things quickly taking over the city. The screams of the people as they were eaten alive were terrifying.

They were nations. They’d lived through and fought in both World Wars, and many bloody battles and revolutions in their lifetimes. They’d seen horrors that would turn any human insane. But _this…_ This was on an entirely different level. This was…

“Bloody Hell…” England summed up, watching with horror as the Regios fell to the Contaminoids.

Matthew, on the other hand only cursed some more. “Damnit!” He cried as he opened the window, and aimed his rifle. With a well-aimed shot, he took down a Contaminoid.

“Yea!” America shouted, hoping that his brother would make it out of this alive.

But the other nations seemed to grasp the full severity of the situation better. One sniper cannot take down an army alone. And that was exactly what was going on here. And Matthew seemed to know this, too.

“I’m not going down without a fight!” He screamed, as he continued firing, but as he went to take down his 25th or so Contaminoid, the building started to collapse.

In a wheelchair, he wasn’t able to move out of the way of the falling rubble in time. As the building collapsed and the dust cleared, it showed that while Matthew was relatively unharmed, his rifle had been thrown from his grasp, and he had fallen out of his wheelchair.

He was now on ground level, and a nearby Contaminoid had spotted him.

“Shit! Not like this…” Matthew tried to drag himself to his rifle, but the Contaminoid was much faster. The nations watched in horror, praying for some miracle. He couldn’t die! He was a nation! He… He was one of them! They… they couldn’t die… It wasn’t supposed to happen… “Papa… Arthur… I’m so sorry… I’ll say hi to Alfred for you…” He whispered as the Contaminoid threw him up in the air with a yelp, and ate him with a terrifying crunch.

The nations then found themselves back in the whiteness of the Aurora. They were all too shocked and sickened to say anything. The FACE family was busy comforting their shivering Canadian, who was hugging Kumajiro for dear life. Kumajiro couldn’t care less that he was being suffocated. Though they may forget each other’s names most of the time, they cared for each other greatly. He’d been terrified by his owner’s demise, and he’d do anything he could to make sure that it didn’t come to pass.

Canada had been horrified by his own death. He was amazed that his future self could go through that without showing any fear, and that he didn’t even scream as he was eaten, but… He shivered. He didn’t want to go that way… He’d rather fall in battle, not as some giant bug’s dinner!

America on the other hand was furious with himself. How _dare_ his future self die and leave his brother unprotected like that?! How _dare_ he?! He wasn’t there to protect his twin! In fact, he was the _cause_ of his brother’s missing legs! He’d practically killed him himself!

England was horrified at his son’s death. Sure, he forgot Canada more than he should, but he still loved him! He didn’t want him to die! One thing was for certain… he wouldn’t be forgetting Canada anytime soon after that…

France was almost as shaken as America. Canada was his precious son! His _son_! He hadn’t been able to protect his son! Either of them! He and England had failed as parents! They hadn’t been able to protect either of their precious sons, and they had nobody to blame but themselves!

Prussia stared blankly at Canada. Birdie had died. _His_ Birdie had died! Where the hell was he?! Ah… he probably died in the blast alongside his Bruder… But still! That was no excuse! He was too Awesome to let his Birdie die!

The other nations around the room all had similar thoughts. They were horrified by the death of a fellow nation. It was one thing to die in battle or an explosion, but death by giant man-eating insect? It was terrifying. Nations were supposed to be immortal. They couldn’t die until their nation fell. That’s just how it worked. As long as their nation still existed, and their people identified with their nationality, then they were immortal in every sense of the word; they couldn’t age beyond what the maturity of their culture was; they couldn’t die by any means, suicidal, homicidal, or _anything._ Prussia had been burned at the stake before, and drowned, and he still came back to life because he was a nation. The idea of losing a fellow nation to a permanent death was a foreign concept for most of them. Only Prussia and Italy truly understood… They’d lost Holy Rome, after all. Romano understood, too; he and Veneziano had lost Grandpa Rome. China and Japan understood, being as old as they were. The others couldn’t really grasp it, though. Even some of those who had experienced it, like England and France, had forgotten how it felt… how to cope… And Canada was someone that nobody expected to die so soon.

It also terrified them how large those bugs were. Even Russia was greatly bothered at the ease of which Matthew had been eaten. After all, Canada was on par with Russia in strength, he just never really used it. So the ease with which he was killed and eaten scared the Russian more than he was willing to admit.

Even Italy had been frightened. It wasn’t because of the Contaminoids, but rather the flashbacks that the whole thing had incurred. The many attacks he, himself had lived through… Those terrifying moments when he was so _sure_ he was about to die before a miracle happened. He’d had many very similar brushes with death… the only difference was that he’d survived them. Something that he was greatly saddened the Canadian couldn’t do. He wasn’t sickened by the death of the Canadian, like the others were. He was used to it… used to this sort of death. He’d seen many friends (admittedly they were mostly humans) die in the same or similar manners.

Canada’s death brought Italy a strange sense of peace and closure. It’d always bothered him that he never knew what happened to the quiet nation, and even though it was a horrifying death, he was glad to finally know.

After about a half an hour, during which thankfully no memories appeared, the nations had finally calmed down.

“Itary-kun… I was wondering what that ranguage you were speaking in was. It sounded rike Japanese, but at the same time, it was different…?” Japan asked, curious.

“Oh! It was Japanese, but the language had evolved greatly over the past 5,000 years. The Japanese that you know now would be called, ‘Ancient Japanese’. Ancient Japanese is considered a dead language, and if/when someone comes across some, they have to have ‘experts’ translate it. It’s usually translated incorrectly, so Romano and I would always volunteer to translate the dead languages like French, Italian, Ancient Japanese, Ancient Chinese, Russian, English, Latin, etc… In fact, the only languages spoken after 5,000 years were the evolved versions of Chinese and Japanese, though Japanese was much more common. After all, only Japan and parts of China were inhabitable.” Italy explained. In truth, the only good comparison for Ancient Japanese translations was probably something along the lines of Egyptian hieroglyphs or something.

“In 200 TF, Romano and I moved to Japan with Glendan. The Contaminoids were much larger in numbers in the ruins of Europe. There were millions, perhaps tens of billions in Europe by that point. In contrast, there were only a few hundred thousand in Japan. Though Japan had become much larger after the Apocalypse. You see, the blast had actually moved chunks of China towards Japan, and they merged.” Japan and China shivered at the thought. They were _brothers_! “At first it only formed a land-bridge from China and thus Europe, to Japan, but over the next few centuries, plate tectonics took those land-chunks and merged them with Japan. I assume that China was dead by this point, by the way. You wouldn’t have felt that pain.” Italy stated, before he continued on. “The end result was that Japan had nearly tripled in size. The Contaminoids, while smaller in number, were much stronger in Japan than in Europe. However, the stronger ones tended to stay above ground unless breeding.”

“What about that kei stuff you were telling us about earlier? You never finished…” Canada spoke up.

“Oh, that’s right. Well, there are three main categories for kei: Internal kei, External kei, and Nen’i. Internal kei can be used for a variety of things, from increasing physical strength and stamina, to increasing ones’ rate of healing. Though just having internal kei doesn't mean that you have all these; it’s just some of what’s available. Of course, there’s much more than that depending on how innovative you are, and how much kei you have, but that’s the basics.

External kei is the most common type of kei, and you can have both Internal and External kei. External kei is commonly used with an object called a Dite. Around 310 TF, Dites were invented. These were very weak, prototype Dites, and Romano and I didn’t come up with the ‘modern’ version of a Dite until about 450 TF. This,” Italy took out a rectangle the size of an iPhone, with curved corners. It was icy-blue with white scrollwork throughout, looking like snow and frost. It was beautiful. “is a Dite. Now, mind that most Dites don’t look quite this pretty. Most are just a generic blue, black, green, yellow, etc. That’s because this is a special type of Dite that Japan, Romano, and I made called a Celestial Blade, but we’ll get to that later. Anyways, a Dite is made to channel one’s kei energy, and use it as a weapon that can be used to fight the Contaminoids.” Italy held his Dite like one would a sword. “Restoration, 0-1.” He stated, as the Dite transformed into a double-edged sword with the same color scheme that it had in the dormant form.

“This is a sword-type Dite. There are many different kinds of Dites, sniper, broadsword, katana, etc… What makes my Dite special is that it’s made to work with the unheard-of amounts of kei—beyond monstrous—that most nations have. Mine also has 4 different forms, as opposed to the usual 3 for nations, but you’ll see those later.” With a thought, he deactivated his Dite, and it shrunk to the unassuming rectangle that it was before. “Most Dites are generic, and usable and _re_ usable by anyone, but this particular type of Dite will bond with the Nation that uses it, and that nations’ kei energy signature will determine the types of forms that it will have.”

“But back to kei. External kei is used primarily with Dites, but can also be used as energy flares, bullets with firearm-Dites, and as an offensive energy source.” Italy held out his hand towards Romano, as if he were reaching for something, and concentrated. With a flare of icy-blue energy tinged with white, Romano slid back a few feet and stumbled a bit. “I didn’t make it very strong, so your natural kei flow protected you from any damage, but you get the general idea.” Italy said with a grin, as Romano muttered some choice words under his breath. “Like Internal kei, External kei has many more properties that are only limited by the imagination and kei levels of the person using it.”

“Internal kei can also be used to improve ones senses of sight, sound, and smell, and is typically used by snipers to dramatically improve their aim. I, myself, like to use it to improve my hearing.”

“Now, Nen’i is different. Unlike with Internal and External kei, if one has Nen’i, then they cannot use External or Internal kei. In other words, Nen’i users can only use Nen’i. Nen’i users have a special kind of Dite. They use the petals on this Dite with their Nen’i and serve as a means of communication between team members during a battle. They can scope out the area with their Nen’i, gather information, act as a communication means for a team, and even record and re-play events and conversations. This all depends on how strong their Nen’i is. The base power of all Nen’i users is the communication aspect. The major drawback for all Nen’i users, is that the stronger their power, the harder it is for them to show their emotions. As a result, many Nen’i users are viewed as emotionless, or cold and uncaring. I’m not a Nen’i user myself… France is, though. Not only that, but it appears that Nations can be Nen’i users _and_ use External and Internal kei. Though France is the only Nen’i user that I’ve met that’s also a nation, I have a theory that if one is a Nen’i user and has access to their Internal _and_ External kei, that one of the three will be extremely weak to compensate for the Nen’i. France’s External kei was exceedingly weak, but his Nen’i and Internal kei were strong.”

“Ahonhonhon~ I knew I was special~!” France boasted. He didn’t like how Italy spoke about him in past tense. He was sure that he’d died, at some point, but he really hoped that he went down fighting… like his son…

“But how does kei work, aru? How is it created? Where does it come from? What _is_ it?” China asked rapidly.

“I suppose I should’ve started with that, huh? Ve~ Kei energy is something that every living thing has. Essentially, it’s the life force of that being. Plants, animals, people, nations, we all have it. Life force can regenerate with proper rest and nutrition, but kei also flows freely in the world around us. The kei organ is able to absorb the kei energy around us, and replenish the amount that has been used. Though, with proper exercise of the kei organ, it can be trained to hold and handle more kei, just like a muscle can be trained to lift more weight. If you use up too much kei, however, you _will_ die. The body can only replenish the kei so fast, even by pulling it in from the world around us.” Italy explained, making sure that everyone understood.

The next memory appeared, and they found themselves in another Regios. This one, much to their relief, was not destroyed.

“This is Glendan.” Italy stated, knowing exactly where they were the moment the memory had appeared. He’d never forget Glendan. It was his heart for more than 4,000 years, and he still loved it as much as Venice. Glendan was more of a son to him, especially after Glendan’s Fairy came…

Lovino was shown sitting in a park, as Feliciano walked up to him and stood behind the bench. The grass and trees and peaceful atmosphere of the place made the nations almost believe that the apocalypse never happened. The sky was a serene blue, with fluffy white clouds above them.

“The clouds and sky aren’t real.” Italy reminded them. “It was a little ingenious bit of technology that I came up with to replicate the sky and clouds. Even the breeze has been replicated. The constellations, too. And since Glendan was made with the Italian skyline in mind, it’s one of the only Regios in Japan with a different night sky than the other Regios. I recognize this memory, and it’s skipped over a few important events. I’ll just recap for you really fast. This is about 400 TF. In 300 TF, the Contaminoids finally finished evolving. You’ll see for yourself just how big they grew in the next few memories, I’ll bet, but more than that, all Regios started to create something called an Electronic Fairy.”

“HA! I _told_ you fairies were real!” England shouted out, pointing his finger at France, and laughing like crazy.

“You need to clean your _ears_ , Mon Cher! ‘e said, _electronic_ fairies, not _imaginary_ ones! Ahonhonhon~”

“France is right, England. I’m not saying fairies aren’t real!” Italy quickly added when England looked like he was about to argue, “But Electronic Fairies are different, and unique to the Regios. In fact, I’d say that they’re quite a bit like us.”

“Oh? Please explain, Da?” Russia asked.

“They’re the very representations of the Regios from which they were born. Only one Regios is capable of _creating_ Electronic Fairies, though they don’t take on any specific characteristics until they’ve bonded to a Regios. But anyways, they’re more like spirits, than people. Most of them take the form of some sort of animal. Glendan, for example, is a sort of golden dog with wings for ears. It’s hard to explain. Another Regios, Myath has an Electronic Fairy that looks like a red bird, while the academic city Zuelli, looks like a pale blue girl. But anyways, Saya also acts as Glendan’s Guardian. And she was the active ‘spirit’ if you will, until Glendan’s Electronic Fairy was born. Before I continue, I’d like to point out that Glendan doesn’t avoid Contaminoids; it seeks them out. As a result, Glendan has earned the reputation as the world’s strongest city.” The other nations stared at Italy. _Italy’s_ Regios was the world’s strongest?! Any doubt that he was the Great Roman Empire’s grandson just flew right out the window.

“Continuing on, in 310 TF, Dites were invented. At this point they’re very weak and can’t handle much kei. In fact, Romano and I had to modify ours because the moment we picked one up, it would explode with the amount of kei we have. I’m not bragging either; Nations always have anywhere from 5-10 times the amount of kei as a human. In 390 TF, we returned to Glendan, after traveling around a bit from Regios to Regios in search of other nations. Now this is 400 TF, and I’m willing to bet that it’ll be a rather short memory.” Italy finished, as they turned back to the memory.

“Fratello, did you hear? Some Electronic Fairies have powers… Sometimes, people can obtain those powers and abilities…” Feliciano said quietly as he sat next to his fratello.

“Si… Glendan’s is knowledge, but it’s only our knowledge. Our knowledge of battle and war; our Grandfather’s legacy. Its nothing we don't already have.” Lovino stated. “Why?”

“Because I heard a rumor… There’s an Electronic Fairy that allows one to travel back in time. Fratello, do you know what this means?! If we can get that power, we could prevent all of this! We could go back in time far enough to prevent that nuclear power plant from exploding! To prevent that pollen from spreading! To prevent _everything!_ ” Feliciano got more enthusiastic as he went on. “We could save everyone! Nobody would have to die! Fratello~”

“Do you really think we can do this, Veneziano? I mean, we don’t even know if it’s real! What if it’s just a rumor?”

“I don’t care! If there’s the slightest chance that it’s real… For Spain… Germany… Prussia… America… Japan… _Everyone_.” Feliciano turned to stare at his fratello with determined eyes.

“Alright. We’ll try. We’ll get that power and prevent everything! No matter how long it takes us. And don’t you _dare_ think that you’ll be doing this all alone, got that?! I’m with you every step of the way!” Lovino gave him a smile, not a smirk, but an honest grin filled with joy and happiness and hope. It was a smile that few of the other nations had ever seen on him. In fact, only Spain and Italy had seen him smile like that before. It made him look centuries younger.

The memory then faded out again until they were surrounded by the familiar whiteness. “For the next 50 years, Fratello and I worked on making modern-day Dites. We succeeded, too. And then from 450-510 TF, we worked out how to obtain the powers of the Electronic Fairies without hurting them. Unlike us, if you hurt an Electronic Fairy, then the Regios that it represents will start to go haywire. The Electronic Fairy controls the Regios, after all. Without it in control, the Regios will start to seek out the Contaminoids. The only exception is Glendan, which, for some ‘unknown’ reason—really it’s Saya’s decision—seeks out the Contaminoids regardless.” Italy explained. Well, it wasn’t completely Saya, Italy knew. Glendan’s Electronic Fairy was practically a personification of their Grandfather’s Legacy. He was a warrior. He lived to fight and make his children strong. _That_ was the real reason why Glendan sought out the Contaminoids.

“So our Regios actually _seeks out_ those monsters?! What the fuck?!” Romano shouted, forcing Italy to cover his ears.

“Ve! Please keep it down, fratello! My hearing is rather sensitive…”

Romano muttered an apology as the next memory faded into existence. They were in an unfamiliar Regios. It looked distinctly French, and even had an Eiffel Tower replica in the middle.

“Ah~ France~ It must be moi~” France cried out in joy.

“Si. This is Jubil, the only Regios with pure French soil. That Replica of the Eiffel Tower? It’s actually built with the remains of the original Eiffel Tower.” Italy explained.

“Oh? Ahonhonhon~ No wonder it’s so magnifique!”

“Ve~ Fratello, look!” Feliciano said, pointing to a familiar blonde figure sitting quietly at a café.

“Oh? It’s the Wine Bastard. Well, we should go say hi.” Lovino stated, looking begrudgingly happy to see another nation.

“Ve~ Big Brother Francis! Ciao, Ciao!” Feliciano cried out, as Francis’ head whipped up in shock.

“Mon Cher! It’s Italie! And Romano, too! Oh, what are you doing ‘ere?!” Francis cried out in surprise as he hugged Feliciano back, though Feliciano seemed to notice something, and his smile dimmed a bit.

“Ve~ We’re looking for something, and came to Jubil. Imagine our surprise to see you here~!” Feliciano explained.

“Yea, yea. Good to see you, too, Wine Bastard.” Lovino stated, pulling up a chair at their table.

“Oh, I’ll take you back to my place, if you want? I ‘ave ze _best_ wine in town, zere~ And I’ll even make you some traditional French desserts, Oui?” Francis said, as he moved out from behind the table, revealing himself to be in a wheelchair, just like Matthew.

“So what happened?” Feliciano asked calmly, yet sadly, as the other nations looked on in shock. Sure there were many that didn’t particularly _like_ France, but no one deserved to be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of their lives—and if Francis’ injury/injuries hadn’t healed within the past 500 years, then they likely wouldn’t ever heal.

France looked at his future self with a sad smile. He knew that he had likely ended up crippled like this. It was a gut feeling. He also knew that he was likely to die here, as well. Jubil… It was a beautiful place… It reminded him so much of Paris, and his future self looked upon the city with the same love that he now looks upon his beloved capital.

“It ‘appened during ze explosion. I’m only slightly paralyzed, don’t worry.” Francis said with a bright smile, as he led them into a penthouse in a grand hotel. “I can still get around and fight, when I need to. I suppose I ‘ave you two to zank for ze Dites?” He asked as Feliciano and Lovino made themselves comfortable in the living room, a glass of good, French wine in their hands, as Francis poured himself a glass.

“Si. Though we’re still working on Dites that’ll allow a nation to use their full kei…” Feliciano said, still looking rather upset at Francis’ condition.

“I see zat you two weren’t entirely unscazed by ze blast, eizer.” He stated, having seen the unusual bagginess in Feliciano’s shirt when he’d shifted to grab his glass of wine.

“Yea, well, what did you expect?! The only reason we even survived was because we got rid of those fucking power plants decades ago!” Lovino snapped, still touchy about his brother’s injury.

“Fratello…” Feliciano sighed, before turning to Francis again. “You’re the first nation we’ve seen since the blast. Do you know if anyone else is okay…?”

“I’m not sure about anyone else, but I saw Angleterre just a couple of years ago~! ‘e looked just fine! A little rougher zan I remembered, but ‘e was alive, at least. And ‘e wasn’t zat injured by ze blast, amazingly enough.” Francis informed them with a bright smile. “‘e looked well enough, and even stayed ‘ere for a few months… ‘e’s changed a lot. We ‘ardly even fought while ‘e was ‘ere.”

“AHH! I knew that the day you two could spend any amount of time together would mean the end of the world!” America shouted.

“Bloody idiot! We didn’t _cause_ the end of the world by not fighting!” England retorted. He wondered just how much his future self had changed. After all, to be able to not just tolerate but actually _enjoy_ France’s presence…

The memory seemed to fast-forward again, showing the three nations enjoying themselves, the Italy twins explaining their search for the Electronic Fairy of Time, and finally, Francis seeing the twins off.

Italy stiffened when it became clear that the memory would stay with Francis. France, as well, stiffened, knowing what was to come.

The memory suddenly changed to show Francis at that same café that he met the Italy twins at. “Ah~ I miss zem already…” He looked up at the morning sky with a forlorn expression. “I just wish… zat everyzing could go back to what it was…” Almost as soon as he said this, the Regios seemed to shake, exactly as Matthew’s Regios did. Everyone seemed to freeze, fearing the worst.

Their fears were confirmed when the alarms started blaring, and an announcement went out for everyone to head to the bunkers, and that the Contaminoids were coming.

“Merde!” Francis cried out, both in slight fear, and great anger. The other nations could see, however, that that fear was not for himself, but rather, it was for his people. The few people that he had left.

The memory was—thankfully—fast-forwarded only to slow down to show Francis wheeling himself out of a seemingly secure area. A man was trying to stop him.

“Please, Mr. Bonnefoy! It’s extremely dangerous out there! Even if you can snipe, it’s too dangerous for you to be out there right now, let us handle it!” He cried, trying to stop Francis by force.

“Non. You know as well as I zat if it continues on like zis, everyone will die. I can take care of le larvae… I’ll take care of ze rock zat’s keeping us from moving. As soon as you’re able, take Jubil as far away from ‘ere as you can. Please.”

“I… We can’t! In your condition, there’s no way that you can–!”

“I _can!_ ” Francis cut him off firmly, staring at him with the most serious expression that any of the nations had ever seen on him. “And I must. For Jubil… and for my sons… I could never face zem if I didn’t go out fighting.” He then smiled broadly—brightly, a smile full of hope. “Besides! I want to die with no regrets.” The man was too stunned to stop Francis as he wheeled himself out of the bunker, the explosions of the outside world filtering into the, apparently soundproof area through the now opened door. He stopped one last time and looked back, before saying, “If anyone named Arthur Kirkland, Feliciano Vargas, Lovino Vargas, or Matthew Williams comes asking for me, please tell zem what ‘appened. Zey’re all very dear to me. And tell zem… I’m sorry.” And just like that, the door closed.

 _WHACK!_ England hit France hard in the back of the head.

“What was _zat_ for?!” He cried out in pain, before Canada and America did the same thing, all three of them looked furious.

“You! YOU! YOU BLOODY _IDIOT!”_ England cried out. “How _dare_ you go and get yourself killed! YOU _GIT!_ ”

Before he could say anything else, Italy stepped up, glaring hard at France, making the nation gulp in fear.

“Do you have any idea,” he started in a darkly calm voice. “how Romano and I felt when we learned of your death? Do you have any clue how _devastated_ we were? You were the first nation we’d met in 550 years. And then you just _die_? You never even _apologized!_ You _idiot!_ Do you even know how devastated _England_ was when we told him?! DO YOU?!” Italy cried out, the hurt and pain, made worse by death and time, shining through the cracks of his mask.

“I- I-” France started only to stop at Italy’s glare.

“I don’t want you to apologize to me. I understand why you did what you did. I _get_ it. I would’ve done the same thing for Glendan.” He pointed stiffly to England, Canada and America. “They, on the other hand, do not. Canada might, but the other two don’t. _They’re_ the ones you need to apologize to.” He stated, and he was very thankful that the memory had paused for this to take place.

Ten minutes of apologies, tears, and furious cursing—on England’s part—later, they were ready to return to the memory.

It picked up showing Francis wheeling around the destroyed town. Even the precious Eiffel Tower II had fallen. There were no bodies of humans, as the Contaminoids ate everything, but there were some fallen larva around. The others stared.

“Zat’s definitely bigger zan last time.” Prussia said, looking at the Contaminoid body. It was the size of a grey whale! The others shivered at the sheer size of these larva.

“This is just a niño?!” Spain shouted in shock.

Francis was shown holding up a deactivated Dite. It was a royal blue color, with bright reds and whites. It was just as flashily colored as he was.

“Restoration, 0-2” He stated, as it turned into a French MAS mle. 1956 Rifle. He took aim, and fired, taking down three Contaminoid larva with a single shot. It was obviously _much_ more powerful than a conventional rifle.

“Bloody hell… One shot?” England stared, knowing that France wasn’t as much of a sissy as everyone took him for, but wondering if everyone would see it now. After all, he’d fought with France for centuries. He knew better than anyone, that France, despite popular belief, was no pushover.

“Not bad.” Romano stated. He may not like France that much, but he knew a good shot when he saw one. He _was_ a sniper after all, plus his mafia weapon of choice was a gun. Veneziano preferred his knives and sword, but Romano would _always_ prefer his pistols.

Francis took out about 30 of the larva while making his way down to the outside. As he sat in his wheelchair, just inside of the protective air-filtered barrier, they could see just how high up they were. They couldn’t see any way for Francis to get down.

Italy, himself, had been wondering just what Francis had done to destroy the rock. He’d figured out how he’d gotten down, but not how the rock was destroyed. Perhaps Francis’ Dite had a hidden, third setting? That was all he could think of…

Before anyone could say anything, a Contaminoid came up from behind Francis, causing the nations to cry out in shock, trying to warn their friend. They could see no way out of it; he was trapped. He was going to die.

Francis, however, only smirked. “I won’t die so easily. Restoration, 0-3.” He stated just as the Contaminoid smashed down upon him. Then, to their shock, the Contaminoid split clean in half.

“Wha?!” Someone cried, but through the dust, they saw Francis standing strong on his two legs.

“I knew it.” Italy muttered.

“Knew _what?!_ ” England demanded, scared, frustrated, and confused. Even France looked surprised.

“Francis had very strong Internal Kei. He channeled that kei into his legs, to allow himself to regain mobility again. The nerves weren’t severed or anything in the blast—he wasn’t paralyzed. It just caused him great pain to move anything below the waist. My guess is that he can last only 15-30 minutes like this before his legs give out, and the pain overwhelms him.” Italy stated, as the others stared at Francis in awe.

Francis jumped down from the Regios, causing the others to cry out in shock again, but they relaxed as they saw him jumping on the flying larva, killing them as he went, using them as a sort of grotesque staircase to the ground.

“They can _fly?!_ ” Prussia cried out in shock.

“Si… Some larva can fly, while others can only walk. They’re fully-evolved, now, though the ones in Japan are slightly larger…” Italy informed them as they stared at him in shock. _Larger?! How the hell could they get larger?!_

Francis seemed to run at great speeds, and they were dragged along behind him, the world blurring by as the sickening green blood of the Contaminoids painted the desolate sands of the world around them.

Eventually, they came upon two enormous rocks with the Regios’ leg wedged between them. Francis’ third Dite restoration was finally shown to the nations to be a rapier. It looked just as thin, flimsy, and fragile as a normal rapier, but the green blood dripping from the tip showed that it was somehow capable of slicing clean through those horrible monsters.

Francis was panting hard, and his skin seemed to be steaming, especially on the scratches that he’d received as he’d fought his way through the battlefield.

“Ah… So zis is it…” he stated, as he raised his rapier. “For Jubil! And for _France_!” He shouted as he destroyed one of the rocks with a single blow, freeing the Regios.

“Now… For ze mozer…” He muttered as he ran again towards a fissure in the earth.

“What?! You—?! _Why_ would you _do_ that?! YOU _IDIOT_! You _survived_! You could’ve—!” England couldn’t understand it. Neither could any of the other nations—sans Italy. He was going to go further and fight the _mother_?! But why!?

“Ve… Those are only the babies. If the mother calls for help, there’ll be no outrunning the reinforcements. The adults are much harder to deal with, and the ideal way to kill one is while it’s either molting, or while a mother is dormant, as this one likely is… But these babies look a few days old. My guess is that the mother is either just coming out of dormancy, or will come out soon.” Italy explained.

Francis had finally found the mother. It was huge! It was the size a blue whale at _least!_

Then, the mother woke up. “Merde!” Francis cried out as he jumped back, avoiding the hit. The mother turned her eyes on him. “I’ll kill you before you can cry out for ‘elp!” He shouted, as the battle began. It was honestly too fast for most of the nations to see. Japan could only see due to his ninja training, and China due to his age and experience. Italy, of course, could see every move clearly, as he was actually much faster than Francis was.

In the end, Francis was able to kill the mother Contaminoid. The nations cheered at his victory, forgetting that Francis was going to die here. France and Italy seemed to be the only ones that didn’t forget what was about to occur.

Francis was breathing hard, his skin seemed to be burning a bit more, and he was badly banged-up and bruised, but miraculously, he had no broken bones, or major injuries. He channeled more kei to his legs, and jumped out of the fissure.

Francis could see the Regios in the distance, moving away to safety as he sighed in relief. But there were still hundreds of larva about, looking for an easy meal. Francis started to fight his way back through, in a vain attempt to catch up to the quickly retreating Regios.

“They just left him?!” America cried out in anger, Canada echoing his twin.

“No, they’ll send out a rescue party once the Regios is safe. Likely, they’ve already almost fought off most of the remaining larva in Jubil, and they’ll send out the rescue party shortly.” Italy said gravely, knowing that the rescue party would be too late.

They watched as Francis continued to fight the larva, though with much more trouble than when he’d first joined the battle. It only showed the nations just how taxing it really was to fight these things.

“In case any of you were wondering, the reason why he’s doing so much worse is because the acidic air is getting to him… It burns terribly, but it’s intensified by open wounds. It’s slowing him down, and that can be dangerous. He’s also starting to suffer from kei exhaustion, having to use it constantly to keep himself standing.” Italy reminded them. He had a pretty good guess what was about to occur… How Francis was about to die…

Just as before, Italy’s guess was proven correct. The unthinkable happened—Francis’ kei finally ran out, and his legs crumpled beneath him. The other nations cried out in shock. “Heh. _Brûle_ en _enfer_!” (Burn in hell!) Francis cried as he was immediately pounced upon by the larva, and literally torn apart and eaten alive by the Contaminoids—he never screamed. Only his Dite was left behind, as the memory faded out.

Italy remained silent as they found themselves back in the Aurora. The nations were sickened and shocked. That’s two nations that they’d watched die, and nothing they could do about it.

“Veneziano?” Romano asked, worried about his little brother.

“You know, I’d always wondered exactly how you died. Fratello and I returned about a week later. We forgot something, I think, but when we saw the state that Jubil was in… and that man told us about what happened…” Italy said quietly, his bangs shadowing his eyes, making his thoughts unreadable.

Italy reached into his left pants pocket, and pulled out something wrapped in a white cloth that looked to have yellowed over the years. Silently, he tossed it to France, who caught it on reflex. “It’s yours.” He stated quietly, as France unwrapped it to reveal his Dite. His eyes widened.

“You’ve kept it all zis time?” He asked.

“Si. It was all they found of you… all that was left. After we heard the news, Fratello and I decided to head to Oweyr, the only Regios with English soil, and the home of Arthur Kirkland… We decided to tell you the news.”

France, curious, decided to try something. He’d been trying to sense his natural kei flow since Italy had explained what it was. He tried channeling it into the Dite, and whispered the words, “Restoration, 0-1.” Amazingly, it transformed into a rather light Sniper’s rifle, but not the MAS one. Just a normal—for a Dite, at least—royal blue sniper’s rifle. “Magnifique~” He cried out, catching the attention of the other nations.

“WOAH! Dude! That’s sooo cool! You can _use_ it!” America cried out, somewhat jealous, but mostly awed.

“Oui~” France said, as it deactivated. He swayed slightly, causing some alarm in the other nations. Italy steadied him—when did he get over there? None of the other nations had seen him move.

Italy sighed. “You’re not ready to use a Dite yet. Activating it is one thing, but using it? Not yet. Your kei reserves are still pathetically low, and there’s not even a snowball’s chance in hell of you actually _firing_ it yet.” He explained, making France huff as he was able to steady himself again, the dizziness gone.

“Perhaps we should take a short break?” England suggested.

“How? I am thinking that the Aurora does not want us to be taking break yet, Дa?” Russia said, making a few of the nations who’d forgotten that he was there, jump.

“Ve… I suppose we _could_ take a short one…” Italy said, before turning to the sky. “Saya? Can we take a short rest? We need some time to digest what we’ve just seen.”

“Of course, Feli…” Saya’s voice sounded distant and echoey, but it was unmistakably hers.

“Grazie.” Italy replied. There was a flash, and the nations found themselves in a sitting room. There was a refrigerator and icebox in the corner, next to some cupboards.

“I assume zat zere’s food in here?” Prussia asked, as he went to the fridge. “YES! Ze Awesome me has found Awesome Beer!” He cried in joy, tossing a bottle to Germany, who caught it gratefully.

The others quickly raided the cupboard, fridge, and freezer, finding their favorite drinks and snacks. Some felt too ill to eat, given what they’d seen, and decided to head to one of the adjourning rooms to rest. Others, such as Italy, weren’t as bothered by what they’d seen and chowed down for some much-needed energy.

“We’ll rest here for about 2-3 hours, before continuing with the memories.” Italy said, before a few nations could sneak out for a nap. “Those who wish to sleep will be woken up about half an hour before we continue the memories; that way, you’ll have some time for tea or coffee or whatever you want.”

“Right. I’m heading for a rest.” England said. He had a feeling that he’d need it.

“Oui… Me, too.” France said, still a little pale. Canada and America also decided to rest.

“Ve… I’ll wake you up when the time comes.” Italy said quietly to them. They nodded, and headed to the separate rooms.

“This will be a very long day.” Italy sighed to himself, as he looked at the digital clock on the stove. It read noon. “A very, _very_ long day, indeed.” He knew which memory would come next. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see it or not. _Arthur… I never knew what happened to you, and I’m honestly not sure if I want to know… I suppose I don’t have a choice, now, do I, old friend?_


	4. Mancante

About three hours later, and everyone was much calmer. Those who were napping were woken up, and everyone had eaten something—even if it was just a snack.

“Is everybody ready?” Italy finally asked. Some of the nations tensed, thinking about what they’d seen today.

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” England replied, surprising a few nations. He was likely going to be shown next, right? So far, everyone but the Italy twins had died. It was a horrifying thought.

“All right.” Italy nodded, before turning to the white ceiling. “Saya? We’re ready to continue.” There was no verbal reply.

The next memory faded in. The Regios they now found themselves in greatly resembled London. “Welcome to Oweyr.” Italy said, as they looked around themselves.

England, in particular, looked around with awe. He could practically _feel_ his lands here. The connection to this place was so unique… He suddenly understood Francis’ decision to fight and defend Jubil. He knew that he’d do the same for Oweyr.

Feliciano and Lovino were apparently asking for directions to somewhere, as they were pointed towards a grand manor. They walked up to the gate, and hit the intercom button. “Ciao, is Arthur here?” Feliciano asked, as Lovino scoffed under his breath. “He’d better be here, damnit! We’ve spent two fucking years looking for the stupid Scone Bastard.”

“I-Italy?! Is that you?!” Arthur’s voice came across the intercom. “Hold on, I’ll open the gates for you!” There was the sound of hurried footsteps, a loud thud, and some cursing, but the gate finally opened.

They were invited into the house by a rather excited—and slightly limping, due to a stubbed toe—Arthur Kirkland.

“Welcome~! It’s so good to see that you two are alright.” He said, serving the two some tea, as they sat down in his rather cozy living room. “Would you like me to make you some snacks? I was thinking about making some scones?”

Lovino and Feliciano’s eyes went comically wide, as they shook their heads, saying “No! No thanks! We’re fine!”

“We just ate, actually!” Lovino quickly said, while Feliciano nodded his head rapidly beside his brother, praying that he wouldn’t be forced to endure the torturous blobs that England called scones.

“Oh, shame. Perhaps next time?” Arthur said, as he munched on something that came out of his pocket. They didn’t know what it was supposed to be, but it certainly didn’t _look_ edible.

“Ah~ I want some crumpets now.” England said, as the others America cried out, “That’s supposed to be a cookie?!”

“They’re called _crumpets!_ ”

“Dude, either way, _that’s_ not food.”

“It _is_ food! And it’s _delicious!_ ”

“Dude, those things you call scones aren’t food either.” America said, ignoring England’s protests.

“My scones are _scrumptious!_ ” England cried.

“Non, zey are death.” France finally stated, receiving a heated glare from England, who looked about to argue the point more, when Lovino finally spoke. “We met France a couple of years ago. We’ve been looking for you since then.” His tone was solemn, and Arthur lowered his supposed crumpet.

“Why? What’s happened?”

“Francis is… dead.” Feliciano finally stated. Arthur looked shocked, his crumpet falling to the floor, as he blinked slowly.

“I’m sorry… I must’ve heard you wrong.” He tried to pick up his teacup, but he was shaking badly, and set it down for fear of breaking it.

“Francis Bonnefoy, personification of France, died two years ago.” Lovino finally said, figuring that it was better to get it out in the open now, rather than draw it out.

“But… _How?_ I saw him just four years ago!” Arthur cried out in frustration and pain and loss. “We’d just become _friends!_ He _can’t_ be dead! He just _can’t_ be!” He continued, now up and pacing, nearly ripping out his hair, as his forest-green eyes turned misty. He was still shaking terribly with suppressed sobs. “First Alfred, and now Francis?! _NO!_ I—! They can’t just leave me _alone_ like this! They—! They _can’t_ , I—! I won’t allow it! I… I just…” He suddenly fell to his knees, as thick tears streamed down his face, as he cried to the heavens. His anguished scream shook every nation to the core. England seemed to be shaking, as well, and France took him into a hug, making sure that nobody else noticed. Everyone was still watching the scene. It was like a train-wreck; too terrible to tear their eyes away from.

“I’m so sorry… I’ve failed you… as a father… as a friend… as a nation… as a person…” Arthur whispered, though everyone caught the heavy words. They seemed to weigh on every nation’s heart like lead.

Silently, England pulled away from France, his red eyes now the only sign of his moment of weakness. For once, he was glad that France always wore that flashy blue cape; it covered the tearstains rather well. France only kept a hand on his shoulder to assure him that he was still there. Though unbeknownst to the two of them, America and Canada had seen the whole thing, though they weren’t about to tell anyone, nor let France and England know that they’d seen their bonding moment.

The scene changed again, and seemed to fast-forward almost immediately. It showed flashes of the Italy twins helping Arthur get over his depression; helping him go to cafés, and even attempt to teach him how to cook—which ultimately failed, but it’s the thought that counts. Hell, they even put their own lives at risk to cheer him up by eating an _entire_ _plateful_ of his scones. The other nations shivered. Perhaps the Italy twins were braver than they gave them credit for. After all, the apocalypse was one thing, but _England’s Scones?_ That was an _entirely_ different level of terrifying.

England couldn’t help but smile at their hard work of cheering him up. He knew he wasn’t the best cook in the world, despite how much he denied it, but it still made him incredibly happy to see them eat his scones. “How long did you stay?” He asked curiously.

“About 4 months. We shouldn’t have stayed so long, though…” Italy muttered the last part nearly silently to himself. In fact, only Romano, Japan, and Germany heard, and they only heard because they were all right next to him.

There was a quick flash of the Italy twins leaving, on what Italy explained was a roaming bus—which carried people from one Regios to another—before the memory finally slowed down to show Arthur alone in his home.

The nations were immediately on edge. Every time they’d seen someone other than the Italy twins alone, they’d died. Was Arthur going to die, too?

Again, the Regios shook, and the nations all mentally agreed that they’d become much too accustomed to the sensation. Arthur stumbled to the window, as the now familiar alarms started blaring, signaling another Contaminoid attack.

Italy watched; craving the closure that this would give him. He never found out what happened. He stumbled across the remains of Oweyr nearly a thousand years later, but he never knew what happened to Arthur.

“Arthur has strong Dark Magic.” Italy suddenly said, as they watched Arthur grab his wand and start packing light, as if he was going to run, before leaving the duffle bag by the door, waving his wand over it while muttering some gibberish, and grabbing his Dite, as he prepared for battle.

“Dark Magic is the natural opposite of kei energy. Since his Dark Magic is so strong, his kei energy is incredibly lacking for a nation. It’s still much stronger than a human’s, but in about 4,500 years from now, his current kei levels will be the average human kei levels. His Dark Magic literally stunts his kei organ’s growth.” Italy explained, as they watched Arthur run out the door, to join in the battle. This new information only served to make them more worried.

Just as they were readying themselves as best they could to watch another gruesome death, the memory suddenly changed.

“What the hell?! Why’d it just change like that?! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see him die, or anything, but… still!” Prussia cried out.

They looked around to see Oweyr in ruins. It was absolutely destroyed, and it seemed most of its people were dead, as well; though there were no bodies, seeing as they’d been eaten.

“Out of nearly 50,000 people, roughly 200 survived and moved on to live in different Regios.” Italy said quietly as everyone looked around. It was silent… The Contaminoids were gone, it seemed. The only sound was the wind blowing eerily through the empty buildings and rubble (as the air filter and barrier had been completely destroyed as well).

The nations all jumped—especially Italy (due to having actually _lived_ in this time, and having firsthand knowledge of the dangers of said time)—when something moved in the rubble near them. Then, they heard a familiar groan. They watched in disbelief as Arthur Kirkland climbed out of the rubble, bloody and terribly bruised, but alive. He appeared to be favoring his left leg, and he gripped his left shoulder with a wince of pain. He was dirty and bruised, and had a deep gash on his forehead, as blood flowed freely over his right eye and down his face, causing him to close his eye. He lifted his right arm, and roughly wiped the blood obscuring his vision away, as he looked around him in despair. He had both red and green blood all over him as he limped towards the ruins of his manor.

“Damned bloody Contaminoids. Black Magic-resistant bastards.” He muttered to himself, angry that he’d let his entire city… his _people_ die. “What would France say if he could see me now? Ah, you’re probably laughing at me right now, you bloody frog… Heh… no… you’re not laughing… you’re crying for me, aren’t you? Well, I’m coming up there sooner or later, you damned bloody frog! And if I find you crying for me at _all_ , I _swear_ that I’ll beat your bloody face black and blue!” He yelled to the skies, as if having a one-sided argument with Francis.

“Mon cher, I would _never_ laugh at you about somezing like zis.” France confirmed, glad that Arthur had enough sense to see that he wouldn’t laugh.

Arthur staggered over to the ruins of his house, muttering about ‘bloody frogs’ and ‘damned bloody Contaminoids’. He bent down, and miraculously, his duffle bag that he’d packed before heading out to fight was intact.

“Good. My magic worked.” Arthur stated, as the other nations looked to England for an explanation.

“Apparently my future self placed a stasis and protection spell on my—I mean _his—_ duffle bag so that it wouldn’t take any damage and it would still be okay when I—I mean _he_ , damnit—went to retrieve it.” England explained, finding it much more frustrating than expected to speak of himself in third person. How did Italy manage it so flawlessly? Oh yea, it’s his past self, and he can use first person. Bloody confusing, that’s what this was.

They watched in silence as Arthur grabbed his duffle bag, and started walking in a random direction. He stopped at the edge of the decimated Regios. “I’ve no place to return to.” He stated quietly, looking back at the ruins of Oweyr. “I’ve no place to go, either.” He looked to the skies once more. “France… if you can hear me, send some luck my way, ‘ol chap, will you? I’d prefer not to see your frog-face for a few more centuries at least.” He looked forward with determination, as he started walking at a slow, but purposeful pace. “As much as I wish you were here, I’m not ready to join you and Alfred just yet.”

The memory faded again, only to be replaced by the whiteness of the Aurora. The nations were caught between digesting what they’d just witnessed, and wanting to see more to find out what happened to Arthur. They looked at Italy for an explanation.

He simply sighed. “I have no idea what happened to Arthur.” He stated, gazing off with an unfocused gaze in the direction that Arthur had been walking off in. “Romano and I didn’t discover the ruins of Oweyr until a thousand years after its destruction.” He’d thought that he might receive some sort of closure from this… But it only brought up more questions. Did Arthur survive? Did he die, wandering the ruins of what was once Japan? Did he find another Regios to live on? There were too many scenarios, and most of them had endings that he’d rather not think about.

Prussia suddenly plopped down on the ground. “Ze Awesome Me, is Awesomely tired. We’ve been watching zese memories for _how_ long, now? We need a break! Even my Awesomeness is tired!” He complained.

“Ve just took a break, Prussia.” Germany stated, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off a headache.

The other nations, however, all murmured agreements to Prussia’s statement. Though they’d just taken a break, a few hours just wasn’t enough. They were all emotionally and physically drained. They’d seen two—possibly three—deaths, seen the apocalypse, discovered things about the Italy twins that _nobody_ knew, found out that Italy had been suffering for 5,000 _years_ , before traveling back to their current time to fix everything that _they’d_ messed up, and to top it all off, they had just skimmed through roughly five centuries of future history. They were tired, and many of them had migraines starting, if not already full-blown.

“Saya? You there?” Italy asked the nothingness.

“Yes… I am…” Her voice seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere all at once, though it sounded faint, as if she was talking to them from the other end of a long tunnel.

“We’d like a place to rest before resuming the memories. Do you think you could help us out?” He asked, uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping in the Aurora.

“Of course, Feli.” Her voice sounded a bit clearer, but still far away. Out of nowhere, a large pile of sleeping bags appeared—one for each of them. “I apologize that it can’t be more… the Aurora is… difficult to work with, sometimes… Time has no meaning here… sleep until you wake… I will use my powers to watch over you as best I can, but…” Saya trailed off, but Italy seemed to understand.

“I’ll keep watch for Contaminoids. Thank you.” He stated. The others froze.

“Y-you mean those _things_ are _here?!_ ” America stuttered, terrified at the thought, not that anyone blamed him.

“Si… According to Saya, there’s the possibility that the Contaminoids may find us. But don’t worry. I can fight them off no problem, okay? I can even take down a Mature Contaminoid alone.” Italy reassured them, but at their questioning stares, he decided to explain a bit.

“Contaminoids have three main life-stages. Larva is the first stage, and the most commonly seen. Those are the babies, and can either fly or not. They’re also the most numerous. You’ve already seen plenty of those.” The others nodded their heads. “The next stage is the Queen, or mother. That’s the one that you saw Francis defeat.” He explained. “The third and final stage is the Mature Contaminoid. By this stage, they can no longer procreate, but they become exponentially stronger. Since they primarily fly by this stage, with each molting process, their legs get smaller, so it’s easier to tell how strong they are by how small their legs are. A Contaminoid has never been known to die of old age. A Mature Contaminoid is _extremely_ large, depending. Sometimes, they _can_ be small, but 99% of the time, they’re at least twice the size of a Queen, if not 3-4 times as large.” The other nations stared at Italy with wide eyes and dropped jaws—with a few exceptions such as Russia, Japan, etc… to save face.

“And you can defeat one all by yourself, aru?! That’s amazing!” China exclaimed, unable to see Italy—or anyone really—defeating something so _large_ alone.

“Well, it comes from experience.” He stated grimly, remembering a time when he was almost unable to defeat a Mature Contaminoid with Romano, and it almost cost them Glendan.

“What with our Regios actually _seeking them out_ , and whatnot. We actually have a tradition on our Regios, Glendan. If any Mature Contaminoids escape us or the Heaven’s Blades alive, then they are given a name.”

“Heaven’s Brades…?” Japan asked quietly.

“Oh, it’ll come up later.” Italy stated, as the others groaned at his answer. He only chuckled quietly to himself as he unrolled his own bedroll. “We should take shifts, just in case. I’ll take the first one, and Japan, you can take the second one. We’ll just choose someone to wake up after that, and if you feel like you honestly cannot stay up to keep watch, then _don’t_ force it—it’s safer for everyone that way, just pick someone else.” Italy said, as he sat down on his sleeping bag as the others all set up their sleeping areas.

Everyone settled down in their own sleeping bags—though there was a little incident with France and England for a little while, but it was quickly resolved. Within minutes, everyone but Italy was asleep—as Italy had first watch. Somehow, the whiteness of the Aurora had dimmed to a comfortable sleeping light level (some sort of darker grey shade), but what really impressed Italy was that the night sky—in all its TF glory—shone comfortingly above their heads. The sky wasn’t from the Nations’ time, but rather from around 5,000 TF. Italy traced the constellations in his mind, as he traveled through time in his memories, both past and future.

He thought about his fights, battles, laughter, and joy. He remembered the hard times with blood and tears, and the somehow addicting feeling of fighting the Contaminoids for your life. He remembered his people and Holy Rome, and Mr. Austria and Miss Hungary from his childhood. He remembered the smiling face of his Grandpa Rome, and the fun and innocent times he and Romano had spent with him. He remembered the World Wars and how he’d been forced to betray Germany and Japan. He remembered making up with them afterwards, and how he’d been so incredibly happy that they had forgiven him. He remembered fighting in the mafia alongside his brother, both of them becoming addicted to the adrenaline-filled life of crime. He remembered the complete fear that had consumed him when those nuclear power plants had gone off, and the agony of his people. He remembered the first time he’d looked upon the finished Glendan with his brother, and the pride they’d felt at their creation. He remembered the first time he’d learned that Saya had somehow become _part_ of Glendan, and essentially became its soul. He remembered the Contaminoids that they’d encountered, and their first time fighting them with a Dite. He remembered the first time he’d been able to pick _up_ a Dite without it blowing up on him. He remembered the sadness he’d felt and heartbreak of leaving his homeland for the safety—if it could be called that—of Japan. He remembered finding France and England, and then finding out about France’s death, and finding Oweyr completely destroyed and almost entirely covered by sand a thousand years later… He remembered _clearly_ how much the acidic air _burned_ when one tried to breathe or if it came into contact with one’s skin or eyes for any length of time. He remembered every hard fight he’d had to fight, and every friend—human or nation—that he’d seen fall. He remembered the birth of the Heaven’s Blades, and the creation of the Celestial Blades. He remembered a small, orphan boy that he’d almost adopted as his own, but named nonetheless. He remembered saying a teary farewell to that boy, Layfon, when he’d had to continue his search for the Time Fairy. He remembered the loneliness that he’d felt, for so long… that he still felt, like a giant gaping hole in his being, constantly aching to be filled, but nothing to fill it with. He _remembered_. And they didn’t. And that, perhaps, hurt him more than he was willing to admit. Those irreplaceable bonds… friendships made anew, as old rivalries were buried. All lost… forever… Because _seeing_ the memories, and _living_ them were two completely different things.

Italy didn’t know when he’d started to cry, the tears silently cascading down his face, illuminated by the stars of the night, as he continued to gaze skyward. He heard, but didn’t register Japan walking up silently next to him. He didn’t know when he’d become aware of Japan’s silent presence beside him. He just needed that _ache_ to _go_ _away_.

“Japan?” He asked quietly, almost feebly, sounding so lost and pleading, that it caught Japan off-guard. Japan remained silent, waiting for Italy to continue. “Why did you have to die?” He asked.

Japan closed his eyes. So he died, then. He and Italy had always been good friends, ever since they’d first met all those many years ago. And if he had to guess, he’d died in front of Italy. “Sumimasen. Wakaranai.” He stated quietly.

“You left me alone… So alone… I know _you_ didn’t but… it still hurts… Nobody remembers… I feel like I’m not even Italy anymore, but… How do I go back to being the ‘me’ that everyone expects me to be, when I don’t even know who he was? _This_ is me now, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But I don’t want everyone to hate me, or leave me because I can’t be the Italy that they want… I know it’s a silly fear, but with everything that I’ve lost… Is it wrong for me to want to keep everyone close? I can’t help this fear that everyone will die again… that everyone will leave me all alone, and I won’t be able to do anything to stop it. And what’s worse is that there’s this gaping hole in my chest that just aches, and _aches,_ and it _just. Won’t. Stop. Aching!_ ” By this time, Italy was quietly sobbing, and Japan had dropped all pretenses for his friend, and actually comforted him with a hug, holding the broken Italian as he helped him gather the pieces of himself.

Normally, Italy could handle emotional stress and issues like a pro. He’d been doing it for most of his life, anyways; wearing a cheerful mask to hide his pain and emotional turmoil to make others happy and brighten their day… he’d been doing it ever since his Grandfather’s death. But experiencing 500 years worth of horrible memories—memories that _he’d_ lived through—in less than a day was just too much for even Italy to handle. He was eternally grateful that out of all the nations there, it was Japan who found him. After all, Japan would understand, and he was one of the only nations that wouldn’t push Italy for answers.

“Arigatou.” Italy said in fluent Japanese. Speaking in another nation’s language to said nation was either for that nation’s benefit, to keep something secret (usually from the ears of humans, as most nations could speak multiple languages), or to convey strong emotions, such as love, hate, or—in this case—gratefulness.

Japan only hummed in acknowledgement, as Italy started to doze off, the day’s emotional rollercoaster and the night’s emotional outlet finally catching up to him.

“Sreep, Itary-kun. I’rr take the watch from here. Buona notte.” Japan stated. Italy was almost too tired to register that the Japanese man had spoken Italian. He smiled, knowing that their friendship was still as strong as ever, as he finally succumbed to his body’s demand for rest, slipping into dreams of the future and past, filled with laughter and a blond haired blue-eyed little boy with a Germanic and Italian accent. 


	5. Chapter 4: Viaggi

The next morning showed Italy waking up before anyone else—out of pure habit. Japan had, at some point in the night, handed off his watch to China. “Ohayo…” He mumbled in Japanese, as China turned to greet him.

“Zăo ān, Italy. You’re up early, aru…”

“Ve~ I’m used to it. I’d get up early every day to further my research.” He stated, rubbing his eyes as he stretched in a cat-like manner.

Italy ended up sitting next to China, as they watched the sunrise—how there was a sunrise in the Aurora, they didn’t know, but questioning it ended up giving them _both_ a headache, so they just decided to enjoy it—in companionable silence, enjoying the peace while it lasted. Japan awoke not too long after Italy, and joined them; sitting on Italy’s other side. He made no mention of what happened the night before, and Italy was grateful.

About an hour later, everyone was up and about, though admittedly rather cranky. France had somehow migrated in his sleep to England’s sleeping bag, and started cuddling him. Of course, Japan and Italy—the latter for blackmail purposes more than anything—took a picture of the two cuddling together, before England woke up and started a typical France/England fight. Of course, this fight woke up the other nations, except for America who could sleep through pretty much anything—only Canada, Italy, and Romano seemed to know how he was able to do so. However, once Russia got involved, and started kolkolkoling, America sprang up as if someone had suddenly given him a double shot of espresso. Needless to say, it was havoc. Finally, the only nation who was trying to continue to sleep had had enough.

Canada had many secrets that the other nations didn’t know, though admittedly, most were only secrets because nobody noticed him. Among them, was the little detail that he was _not_ a morning person. Even America was scared of his twin if he was woken up too early. Canada may have been the more docile twin, but he was actually _stronger_ than America; he just preferred not to use it often. But if there was one thing that pissed the normally peaceful Canadian off—other than interrupting his Hockey—it was being woken up too early, with no pancakes, no maple syrup—or really cheap maple syrup, how insulting!—and loud chaos.

So when the Canadian had finally had enough, he slowly sat up in his sleeping bag, with a dark glare on his face. America, recognizing the look immediately, did the intelligent thing and got as far away from the chaos his brother was glaring at as possible. Italy and Romano, while not knowing the Canadian that well, recognized the glare as one that they commonly wore when someone had crossed a dangerous line. And seeing as America was trying to get as far away from the mess as possible, they did the intelligent thing and also moved away, with Japan and China following their lead. Unfortunately for the other nations (including England and France, who normally would’ve recognized the look and run for the hills, but due to being engrossed in their argument, completely missed the warning signs), nobody else recognized the danger that they were undoubtedly in.

“ENOUGH!” Canada yelled—actually _yelled_ —in anger. England and France, recognizing the danger too late, ‘eeped’ and hugged each other for dear life. What happened next was a thorough tongue-lashing (and a few fists) from a very angry Canadian. Russia was quickly reminded of the reason why he feared the normally silent nation.

By the end of a full 30 minute rant, the nations that were yelled at felt like five-year-old children being scolded by _both_ their parents.

“Now, if you’ll _behave_ like the _adults_ you claim to be…” Canada trailed off ominously, leaving the nations to shudder at the threats that their minds supplied to them. How they could’ve _ever_ forgotten this nation, nobody knew.

 _Heh, no wonder America often asks Canada to watch his 50 kids when he needs a break. I always wondered why they seemed to be more obedient for Canada than they were for Romano and I._ Italy thought to himself, having accidentally discovered that America’s 50 states had personifications _decades_ ago, and offered to help him watch them (though their ages ranged from 8  & 7 [Alaska and Hawaii], 10-14 [only about 5-8 states were that age], and 15-17. The original 13 colonies were the only ones who were 18-23.).

After a rather awkward breakfast where the nations tried to appease or avoid the Canadian—which Italy, Romano, and the FACE family chuckled at, because they knew that the Canadian was the type of person to explode or rant or whatever, get his thoughts out, and then put the entire matter behind him. In his mind, he stated his opinion clearly and illustrated his point, so there was no need to dwell about it any longer, so long as they didn’t make the same mistake again—they all stood around, wondering what to do.

Quite suddenly their entire environment went back to the familiar whiteness that they’d associated with the Aurora. Many nations tensed, knowing that this meant more memories were about to be shown.

Then, the whiteness faded again, until they found themselves in another unfamiliar Regios. Italy’s eyes sparkled with excitement; he knew _exactly_ what memory this was, and it was one that he enjoyed quite a bit.

“This is 583 TF. Welcome,” He started, “to Umevokin.” He spread his arms wide, as they gazed at the strange city. What made it so strange was that half of it was covered in snow and frost and all things winter, while the other half seemed to be in an eternal summer. There was even a small volcano (fake, of course) on the summer side.

“The fuck is up with this place? It’s all… weird…” Romano stared at it with confusion.

“It’s a unique Regios that represents summer and winter. Most Regios have weather-controlled environments, so they never experience the seasons. Occasionally they might make it a little foggy, or rainy, but water is a precious resource that can’t be used so flippantly.” Italy explained, a joy and glee shining in his eyes that they hadn’t seen in quite some time, as he excitedly explained about the Regios. “I helped build this Regios with Romano, and we decided that the joys of the Seasons shouldn’t be lost to time, and to recreate it here~! It’s one of my favorite Regios! Last I heard, it was still alive and wondering around when I jumped back in time.” Italy smiled, as the nations relaxed once they realized that this Regios wouldn’t be destroyed like the others.

“Another thing that makes this Regios unique, is that it holds _two_ Electronic Fairies.” Italy added, as Feliciano and Lovino finally came into the memory.

“Are we sure this’ll work? Did you double-check your calculations?” Lovino asked, staring intently at a notebook in his hand as they walked towards the center of the city.

“Si. I checked them five times. Relax. This’ll go well~ We helped build this Regios, after all, I’m sure that the spirit will grant one of us a power. If nothing else, it might know where the Time Electronic Fairy is.” Feliciano stated, looking eager, an excited bounce in his step.

“Alright, fine, damnit. But it better work this time, okay?” Lovino huffed, following after his brother with his trademark scowl.

“Lighten up, Fratello, or they’ll never pick you~” Feliciano teased lightly.

“Che. ‘Lighten up’ he says. ‘They’ll never pick you’ he says. Some brother _he_ is.” Lovino mumbled to himself.

“Ve~ I heard that! Just for that, I’ll hide all the pasta sauce I managed to make~” Feliciano chirped happily, as he dashed away.

“W-wait! Come back! Don’t you _dare_ hide that fucking sauce!” Lovino yelled as he gave chase, but the nations could easily tell that the two brothers were only playing around, especially when Feliciano started a snowball fight, which Lovino gleefully joined in on (as well as any nearby kids).

By the time that the snowball fight ended (hours later for Feliciano and Lovino, but only a few minutes to the nations watching), Lovino and Feliciano were sopping wet, rather cold, and grinning like loons. They walked across the street to the Summer side of the Regios to dry off and warm up.

Feliciano plopped down on the grass spread-eagle, as he gave a contented sigh, followed by Lovino. They laid there for a few minutes in silence before Feliciano finally spoke.

“How long has it been since we’ve laughed like that fratello? Since we’ve had that much fun?”

“I… don’t know… I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that.” Lovino answered honestly.

“Neither can I…”

It was silent for a few more minutes. “Come on,” Lovino finally said, as he stood up; both of them now dry from the summer heat. He offered his fratellino a hand up. “We should get going if we’re going to reach the Core tonight.”

Feliciano nodded his head as Lovino helped him up. “Right.”

“Ze Awesome Me is Awesomely confused.” Prussia interrupted.

“Ve~ Every Regios has a Core. It’s the main engine room, and the Heart of the Regios. That’s usually where the Electronic Fairy is. Sometimes they’ll explore their Regios and hide among their people, but they usually stay in the Core. Romano and I were heading to the Core of Umevokin to meet with the Electronic Fairy there to attempt to gain some sort of power or ability. They don’t part with their powers lightly, as they can only ever give them away once per millennia, in the best of cases.” Italy explained, as the memory skipped to show the two brothers standing in a large room with many moving and pumping parts. It looked incredibly complex, and the nations had to remind themselves that the Italy twins had _made_ this.

“Ve~ We’re finally here.” Feliciano stated softly before calling out, “Umevokin! Please come out~! We’d like to ask you if you could grant one of us your ability~!”

“Tsk! Like it’d come out that easily, fratellino! Honestly! Didn’t I teach you any—” But whatever Lovino was going to say was cut off by a chuckle. They turned to see a glowing three-tailed icy-blue and white fox. It had thick white fur, the color of pure snow, and icy-blue socks, tipped ears, and tipped tails, with elegant, frost-like swirls in a slightly lighter shade of icy-blue. Its eyes were a deep sapphire blue color, and it seemed to be chuckling in amusement.

“Umevokin?” Feliciano asked hesitantly. The fox chuckled a bit more, as it moved a bit closer to them, examining them with a critical eye. It looked at Lovino, before huffing, and turning instead to Feliciano.

“OI! What the _fuck_ was _that_?!” Lovino yelled, offended.

Before they knew it, another fox appeared beside the first. It, unlike the white one, was a fiery red color, with black socks, soot-colored tipped ears, and golden tipped tails (it also had 3 tails). Its eyes were a fiery golden-red color, and it seemed as if it were radiating a significant amount of heat.

It didn’t seem to be chuckling, but instead gazed at Lovino with a critical eye. After a few minutes of breathless silence, the two foxes looked at one another, before nodding their heads. They started glowing intensely, the white one, blue, and the second one red. Feliciano and Lovino had to look away before it finally died down. In place of the two foxes, stood two boys.

The first boy had long white hair, and a pair of icy-blue tipped white fox ears atop his head. He also had three white fox tails with icy-blue tips, and intelligent sapphire-blue eyes. He wore a wicked smirk that just _screamed_ mischievous prankster. He wore a white garb that reminded them of something from Japan’s people, with an icy-blue sash and a snowflake design throughout.

The second boy, just an inch or two taller than the first, had long fiery red hair, with a pair of matching red soot-tipped fox ears on his head as well. He, too, had the red fox’s three tails swaying behind him languidly, as golden-red eyes gazed intensely—though not nearly as intense as before—at Lovino, just as the white one was gazing with great interest at Feliciano. He wore a bright red outfit, with flames at the bottom working their way up to his middle, and a golden sash.

“Greetings. We are Umevokin.” They stated at the same time.

“Two?!” Lovino cried out, shocked.

“Yes. We are twins, like the two of you. We remember you.” The red one said.

“You can call me Yuki~” The white one said cheerfully, much like Feliciano would.

“And I am Natsu.” The red one stated with a slight scowl.

“What do you mean by you remember us?” Feliciano asked.

“You’re our fathers~ You created the Regios Umevokin, and so created us~! We sorta took on parts of your personalities, too, but that’s okay~! We don’t mind!” Yuki chirped as he leaned against the railing, his tails swinging in amusement.

“We… created you?” Lovino asked, shocked. “I thought you were all born in Sheniebel!”

“Ve~ Sheniebel is the only Regios with the Spirit Copy System, or SCS for short. It has a large tree, which creates Electronic Fairies, thus allowing more Regios to be built. Most Regios have Electronic Fairies from the SCS, but a few managed to personify themselves. Interestingly enough, the only Regios that I know of that have natural personifications, were those created by nations.” Italy explained at their confused looks.

“We were born naturally. We’re here because _you_ built us. Now, I doubt you came for a simple ‘hello’ visit, _dads._ ” Natsu said with a slight sneer. Obviously, he was a little mad at them for not visiting them, but the twins could still see the love, respect, and affection shining in his eyes, though it was very well hidden.

“Ve! Please don’t be mad, Natsu~! We’ll come back and visit more! We promise!” Feliciano quickly said, hating that his ‘son’ was angry with him.

“See?! I _told_ you Papa wouldn’t like that!” Yuki said with a glare at Natsu as he gave Feliciano a hug. “It’s okay Papa! _I’m_ not mad at you.”

“Che.” Natsu rolled his eyes in a very Romano manner. Lovino, on the other hand, was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had _two_ _sons_ that were personifications like them.

“Oh, fucking joy. I feel a headache coming on.” Lovino muttered to himself, missing Natsu’s amused glance. “Look, we just need to know if you’re willing to grant us your ability. We’re looking for an Electronic Fairy of Time. There’s a rumor that there’s one Spirit that can grant someone the ability to go back in time, and we’d like to go back and prevent billions of innocent people from dying, including our close friends.” Lovino finally said.

It was silent for a few tense moments, as Natsu and Yuki exchanged glances, before Yuki finally spoke, his playful demeanor and tone suddenly gone and replaced by a serious expression. “We each have one power to give. I’m willing to give you mine, Papa Feli, but the thing about Regios Abilities is that the person that they’re granted to must be compatible. Normally, a human can only hold one power tops, any more and they’ll die. But you two are nations, or former at least. You’ll be able to handle many Regios Abilities.” Yuki held out a clear orb, the size of his hand. “This crystal is connected to my core abilities. If it glows for you, then you’ll be compatible with my powers, and I’ll grant them to you.” He said with a smile.

“Papa Lovi…” Natsu spoke in a firm, yet soft tone. “I’m also willing to grant you my power, but like Papa Feli, you need to be compatible with it.” He also produced a clear orb.

As Feliciano took Yuki’s orb and channeled his kei into it as instructed, it glowed a brilliant icy-blue color, and Natsu’s orb glowed a fierce fiery red.

Natsu and Yuki both smiled, Yuki’s excited and happy, while Natsu’s was more reserved, though still pleased. They said something in an unfamiliar language—the language of the Foxes, Italy told them—and the glow from the orbs rose in an enchanting tendril of light and power, before flowing into the two nations.

Feliciano and Lovino gasped, as the power flowed through their veins, encompassing their entire being. The memory then blacked out; leaving the nations wondering just what powers the two Italians had received.

“Ve~ We stayed for a few years to learn how to control our new powers.” Italy said, as he held out his right hand, palm-up, and lazily created a swirl of snow and frost. “I gained the ability to create, command, and control ice, snow, and frost. I never get cold from the temperature, and cannot freeze to death. Actually, I’m rather comfortable walking barefoot in the snow. Romano gained powers over fire, and never gets hot. He also gained the ability to create, command, and control fire. He also became immune to flames, and couldn’t be burned.”

“Wow~ That’s SOOOO COOL! You’re like a SUPER HERO!” America shouted with an excited laugh.

“Ve… I’m not sure you could call us _that_ …” Italy muttered with a sweatdrop.

“So… they’re really our kids?” Romano asked, not quite sure how he felt about the whole situation.

“For all intents and purposes, yes. We built Umevokin, and they were born from our creation, so theoretically, we built _them_. Kinda like how England is technically Sealand’s dad.” Italy mused, enjoying the rather embarrassed spluttering of the English nation.

“Wh–what are you talking about?!” England choked out, having only ever thought of Sealand as an annoying little brother, or something.

“You mean you haven’t noticed? He has _your_ eyebrows, Iggy.” America stated with a raised brow.

“So?! _You_ don’t!”

“Exactly. I _don’t_. I was a landmass with a personification _before_ you found me, you know. Sealand, however… You _did_ build him, and so he’s technically your biological son.” America pointed out, enjoying the opportunity to mess with his dad immensely.

“Stupid eyebrows, aru. Why did he have to inherit _that_ trait?” China muttered to himself, thinking of his own son, Hong Kong, while choosing to ignore the beet-red Englishman stuttering nonsense.

Before they could calm England down, the next memory faded into existence. Italy smiled when he recognized the Regios. It was made, almost entirely, of beautiful red rocks; the kind you would’ve found in Utah or mid-western America.

“Where are we now, aru?” China asked, as he watched Lovino and Feliciano climb up a sheer rock-face with no ropes.

“Oi! Roma! It’s not safe for you to climb without a rope! Ay caramba!” Spain shouted, grasping his ‘little Lovi’ and hugging him for dear life. If his little Tomato got hurt…

“ITALIEN! You shouldn’t be climbing _anyzing_ much less visout a vope und proper gear! Vat vere you zinking?!” Germany yelled, worried for Italy’s safety.

“Ve~ This is Erkigh. It is man-made, not Nation-made, and a very popular tourist spot. Its appeal is, if you haven’t already guessed, rock-climbing and hiking, but it also offers hang-gliding and body gliding, among other things. As for the whole ‘climbing without ropes’ thing, well… We’re technically not allowed in the Core of a Regios. Only maintenance and cleaning crews are allowed in there. We were able to get into Umevokin’s Core so easily because we built it, and went in under the pretense of a check-up on our Regios. But we didn’t build Erkigh, so we had to sneak in, hence the whole climbing the sheer rock face at night, thing.”

“But why no gear?!” Romano shouted, unable to believe that he’d do such a thing without reason.

“It’s a tourist spot. When people go skiing, do you give them a free pair of skis? No. In order to get the climbing gear, you need to rent it; which means checking it out, and leaving a paper trail. It’ll be impossible to break into the Core without drawing _some_ sort of attention, even if they don’t notice until days later, so we don’t want to leave anything pointing back to us. In fact, according to the ‘paper trail’, right now, we’re in a Regios called Kyefager.” Italy finished, looking rather proud of himself. They hadn’t been caught, after all, and had entered the Regios under false names. Funnily enough, Italy had been Mario, and Romano had been Luigi. Nobody knew what Mario was anymore by that point, so there was no risk in using the unusual names. Other than a few odd looks, nobody even gave them a second glance. And as far as the officials are concerned, Mario and Luigi had simply dropped off the face of the Earth, which is exactly what they’d wanted.

Finally, after giving the other nations multiple heart attacks by slipping and almost falling at least 4 times, Lovino and Feliciano made it to the top. “Fratello! We made it!” Feliciano shouted with glee.

“Si, si. I told you we could do it!” Lovino shot him a grin.

“Umm… Fratello?” Feliciano asked uncertainly.

“Yea, what is it?” Lovino asked as he got up from his sitting position and dusted off his jeans.

“How are we going to get back down?” Feliciano asked innocently, making Lovino freeze.

“Uhhh…”

“Romano!” Spain said in a lecturing tone. “How could you climb up there and _not_ have a plan to get back down?! Huh?!” Romano shrunk back. Spain may be a mellow guy most of the time, but when Romano’s safety was in question, nobody was safe from his wrath. Not even Romano himself.

“I didn’t even do this stuff yet!” Romano defended.

“ _Yet._ ” Spain pointed out, a smug shine to his eyes.

“Well, crap. I _won’t_ do it, because this whole apocalypse thing _won’t_ happen! How’s that?!” Romano shouted.

“Ve! Please calm down! It wasn’t his fault! It was my idea in the first place. I’d mentioned it offhandedly, not really even meaning anything by it, and we just kinda decided from there.” Italy amended, earning a glare from a slightly protective Germany. _Hehe? Whoops!_

“You don’t know.” Feliciano deadpanned, causing Lovino to fall into a mini-depression.

“No.” Lovino admitted, as Feliciano finally got up and dusted himself off.

“Come on, fratello. We’re already here, so we might as well?”

“Si.”

“Oh! I should probably mention…” Italy started, as Feliciano and Lovino started walking to a large building. “This is 2,450 TF. Romano and I have gained a few new abilities since the last memory. I guess the Aurora didn’t think it important enough to show, so I’ll just skim over it.

In 739 TF, Fratello and I visited a Regios called Puewhiem. It’s a German Regios with some Prussian influence—though both Germany and Prussia died in the blast. Its Electronic Spirit is a German shepherd. It’s one of the only Regios to breed dogs, as dogs are one of the few animals to survive the apocalypse, but they became very rare and extremely expensive. There, Fratello gained the ability to talk to dogs of any kind, including wolves.”

“I wha? That sounds kinda lame.” Romano muttered, rather disappointed with the ability that he’d supposedly gained in the future. Really? What use was it to be able to talk to dogs?!

“Don’t knock it, Fratello~! It’s a very handy ability~! You’d be surprised at all the information that dogs have! They’re supposedly really aware of most things going on, or so you’ve told me.” Italy said to Romano, placating his sour expression.

“In 846 TF, we visited a Grecian-based Regios named Keuo, where I gained the ability to speak to cats and foxes—the Electronic spirit of Keuo was a two-tailed purple cat with emerald eyes, and a red gem on its forehead. Each tail was forked, too. It was really pretty.” Italy stared off into space for a second before he spoke again. “You’d be surprised at how much cats know. They’re huge gossipers, and always know what’s going on, regardless of how ‘secret’ it is. I’ve even talked to a few cats in ‘our’ time, that is, pre-apocalypse. They know all about us nations, and have been incredibly helpful in preventing the apocalypse. Word travels incredibly fast by cat, even across continents.” Italy explained, enjoying the amazement of the other nations at the little tidbit of information.

“Perhaps Greece-san has the right idea after arr…” Japan muttered to himself, wondering if Greece might have somehow survived the initial blast, as well.

“And finally, in 983 TF, we visited a reptile Regios named Synriss. It was a major tourist hot spot, as it was the only place on earth that you could see an _actual_ reptile in its natural habitat. Of course, things like small snakes and lizards lived in many Regios, but Synriss has many different types of reptiles—at least 32. There, Romano gained the ability to speak to snakes and most reptiles, as well as immunity to most venoms.”

“A _Parselmouth?!_ ” England exclaimed, still a little biased against them from the whole Voldemort thing.

“Dude. Moldyshorts died _decades_ ago. Let it rest!” America chastised, not bothering to acknowledge England’s response.

“After that, we traveled to Erkigh, where we are in this memory, under false names.” Italy concluded, deciding to ignore the outburst of the Englishman.

“Are you Erkigh?” Feliciano’s voice asked, drawing the attention of the nations. They found that they were already in the Core of the Regios, and that Feliciano and Lovino were looking at a rat… At least, that’s what the nations thought at first, but upon closer inspection, they realized that it wasn’t a rat.

It had golden brown fur, was small enough to fit in one hand, and had a black tipped tail. The nations realized belatedly that it was a prairie dog.

“Yes.” A distinctly young male voice said, presumably the prairie dog—the nations could now claim that they’d seen weirder. “I am Erkigh. Who are you?”

“I am Feliciano Vargas.”

“And I am Lovino Vargas.”

“Ah,” said Erkigh, “the Italy twins, yes? I’ve heard word of you. The Vargas Brothers. The Miracle workers. The geniuses who built the first Regios, Glendan. You’ve been going around collecting Regios Abilities, haven’t you? I assume that’s why you’ve come today.”

“How did you…?” Lovino started, but was cut off by Erkigh.

“I’m not the only one who knows who you are. Many Electronic Spirits have caught wind of your journey. Searching for the Electronic Fairy of Time, yes? Planning to prevent all this? Many of us do not appreciate the idea of someone wishing away our existence, but we were built with the singular purpose of protecting our people. Even still; I’m giving you this warning: there are Spirits out there that demand for your demise. They fear their own deaths, and don’t want you to continue your quest. I am not one of them. But, as you likely know, in order for you to obtain my powers—”

“One of us has to be compatible, yes, yes, we know, already! Let’s just hurry this up before we get caught. I really don’t want a fucking record under the name ‘Luigi’, thank you very much.” Lovino interrupted, as Feliciano chuckled.

“LUIGI?! How the _fuck_ did you _ever_ convince me to use the name _Luigi_?!” Romano cried out, not in anger, but embarrassment. The other nations couldn’t help but chuckle as the mental image of Romano dressed in green with blue overalls, with a mustache running around bashing bricks popped into their heads.

“Ve~ If it helps, fratello, I used ‘Mario’.” Italy stated.

“NO, it does NOT help!” Romano snapped back, his face still bright red.

“Here is my orb.” The prairie dog said, as a glass orb large enough for the little spirit to use as a hamster ball appeared before them in a flash of soft brown light. Feliciano was the first to pick it up.

As he pushed his kei into it, it started to glow dully, like mud. The brown colors looked mucky, and moved slowly, in a sloshy motion. Feliciano made a face.

“Ve… I guess I’m not compatible.” Feliciano stated with a disappointed sigh, as he handed the orb to Lovino.

“Okay, my turn.” He stated, as he started channeling his kei into the orb. It then started to glow a brilliant and clear shade of golden brown, with many different shades of soil colors in it. Just like in Umevokin, the colors swirled up out of the orb in a steady yet hypnotizing stream of beauty, and flew into Lovino. As soon as the glow died down, and the orb vanished, Erkigh spoke again.

“Congratulations. You now have the power to control, manipulate, and most importantly _purify_ any kind of earth or soil. If you stay here for a few weeks, I can show you how to master this power.”

“Yes, please. Thank you very much.” Lovino stated with a grin. He was going to enjoy this.

The memory phased into another one. Lovino and Feliciano were sitting on a sheer cliff-face, dangling their legs out over the edge without a care in the world as they watched the sunlight start to creep over the horizon.

“This is the day that we were leaving Erkigh; Romano finished his training, already.” Italy explained.

“Fratello…?” Feliciano said after a few peacefully silent minutes.

“Si?”

“I’ve been thinking… ever since you got your powers, actually…”

“About what?” Lovino prompted, as he spun a few pebbles around in his palm lazily. “Oh! Get this! Erkigh and I found this other ability of mine! I’m hyper-aware of the vibrations in the ground! I can ‘see’ without actually seeing! Like that old show, Avatar. Remember that? That blind girl, Toph, or something. I can see through the vibrations of the earth! It’s clearer with skin-contact, but still…” Lovino trailed off, still excited by his newfound power, before realizing that he cut off his brother. “Sorry, what was it you wanted to say?”

“That’s really cool, fratello~! But, um… well… I was thinking that… nearly every nation has, or has had a Regios built with their soil, right?”

“Right…” Lovino echoed, not quite seeing where this was going.

“Well… You have the power to purify soil now… You could even remove radiation from it. I was thinking…” Feliciano trailed off as Lovino’s eyes widened in horror.

“NO! We can’t! It’d take me months or even _years_ to purify _that_ soil, and besides! Even _with_ protective gear, a nation couldn’t survive more than 3 days in that environment! How would we even _gather_ that soil?! Forget _gather_ , how the fuck would we even _get_ there?!” Lovino ranted, worried that his fratellino would try it anyways.

“Please?! Fratello, he doesn’t have one! He _deserves_ one! He may be gone, but his land doesn’t have to be! It’d be like finally giving him a proper burial… Please fratello? For him? For his family? America was my friend.”

The Nations gasped, finally understanding what it was they were talking about. “You… for me?” America asked, honored, and worried. He didn’t want them to put themselves at risk for _his_ sake. He’d already caused enough damage…

“It wasn’t your fault, you know.” Italy said, knowing exactly where the American’s mind was.

“Yes it was. If my power plant hadn’t have blown up…”

“It _wasn’t_ your fault. Look, I’m not sure if it’ll show it, but… We eventually found a way to go through with my idea. We went to the Blast Zone. I found evidence of foul play there, Alfred. It wasn’t you. Someone else set off the Power Plant. Someone from another nation. It was sabotaged.” Italy stated darkly.

“ _WHAT?!”_ The nations all screamed out at once, though America said nothing. He was frozen in place. “Who? And why?!” He demanded.

“I don’t know. I never found out. All I could tell was that he was foreign. I killed him before he could set it off, but… He somehow had kei… and he _knew_ how to use it… I don’t understand it myself, but before I could get close enough to remove his helmet and examine the body, someone else blew him up. It was very controlled, and left no evidence behind.”

“So _that’s_ what happened! I was called to the site, because they’d seen a small explosion near a power plant, and they didn’t want anything to go wrong. I was called as an extra precaution.” America said, angry that someone would sabotage him like this, but more than that, he was angry that someone would endanger the rest of the world for just a chance to do him in. Who had that kind of a grudge against him? He could think of many nations that hated him… that wanted him dead. But he couldn’t think of any that would do it in such a brutal manner. In such a roundabout way. They would either want him to know beforehand, take his land and people, or destroy him without endangering themselves. He couldn’t think of anyone with enough of a grudge to kill him at the expense of the end of the world as they knew it. And his children… All 50 of his states… His kids… When he found out who did this they were going to _wish_ they were burning in hell for all eternity…

Italy and the other nations backed off when they saw fury burning in America’s eyes. Only a handful of them (The Italy twins and Canada) knew that he was thinking of his kids.

“Fine. Damnit. But _you’re_ figuring out how to get us there _safely_. And _back._ ” Lovino finally relented, drawing the other nations’ attention back to the memory. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, as the two stood up and dusted themselves off.

“Come on, _Luigi,_ it’s time to go. The next adventure awaits~! Let’s see if we can head back to Upwhur and start on the schematics of that new Regios.” Feliciano stated, as they started to walk off.

“Actually, _Mario_ ,” Lovino started, calling his brother by his pseudo name with a slight hiss, “There’s a Regios that I want to check out. I heard some rumors about it. It’s called Edgevas. It travels near the coastline, but never obtains any long-lasting damage from the ocean spray.”

“Really?! Do you think…?”

“It would make sense. If the Electronic Fairy can turn back time, then it could reverse the damage as it’s done. It’s the most promising lead we’ve had in centuries.” Lovino said.

“The ocean has become extremely acidic. Only aquatic Contaminoids can survive in it, along with a few very rare and highly evolved hard-to-catch fish.” Italy explained, seeing the confused looks on some of the nations’ faces.

“Right, so Edgevas first, _then_ Upwhur?” Feliciano asked.

“Si. To Edgevas, then.” Lovino confirmed.

The scene then went back to white. “Well, it’s refreshing that there’ve been no—” England started, before America slapped his hand over his mouth.

“ _Don’t_ you _dare_ jinx it!” He hissed.

“Yeah, didn’t you know? Saying something like that is _sure_ to jinx it!” Canada piped in.

“Perhaps another break is in order?” Italy suggested, as the whiteness changed into the now familiar break room.

“I suppose so.” France shrugged, wandering into the kitchen to grab himself something to eat.

“Let’s say, an hour and half? That way everybody can rest up and eat something before continuing.” Italy suggested.

“Fine with me.” Romano stated, before turning to his brother.

“Ve?”

“Chigi. You’re going to make pasta with me.” Romano demanded. Italy almost laughed. _Almost._ It was something the two of them did to spend time together and bond. Cooking of any kind was very relaxing to the Italian Twins.

“Si.” And with that, they took over the kitchen for some quality bonding time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it’s been so long. I meant to post this on New Years for a little gift, but life got in the way. ^_^; Anyways, I hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter. Look forward to the next one, yeah? We finally meet up with Kiku next time~! ^_^ 
> 
> Pages: 11  
> Words: 6,035
> 
> Date Posted: Monday, January 4, 2016


	6. Viaggi

The white then faded back to a new Regios. This one seemed to be strongly influenced by the sea, and had the occasional sushi stand. It appeared to have some Japanese influence in the architecture, as well as several other, more tropical, beachside cultures. It was different, but somehow it worked.

“Welcome to Edgevas. It’s the only Regios that dares travel the coastline, near the Acidic Sea, and thus near the extremely _large_ and dangerous Contaminoids. They’re really hard to fight, because their battlefield is an ocean that eats through pretty much anything that hasn’t adapted to it.” Italy explained, as the nations looked around in awe. “Fratello and I had just discovered that the Electronic Fairy here didn’t have the power we were looking for, and we were both incompatible with his power. Turns out, it was just an ingenious idea of mixing Sea Contaminoid blood with the outer armor coating of the Regios, which protects it from the Sea spray, and has the added bonus of disguising the Regios’ scent, so they’re pretty safe from the Contaminoids.” Italy continued. “We decided to spend a few days there to rest before heading out for Upwhur.”

“UUUUUGH! After all that shit, we _still_ haven’t found it!” Lovino shouted out in frustration, as Feliciano patted his shoulder comfortingly. They were sitting at a café that overlooked a man-made beach. People were lounging about on their beach chairs and children were playing in the water. It looked like a normal beach.

“N-nani?!” They heard a familiar voice cry. “Itary-kun?! Romano-kun?!” The twins whipped around to find Kiku Honda standing behind them, staring at them with a smile of disbelief.

“Ve?! Japan?! You’re okay~!” Feliciano cried in joy, as he latched on to the Japanese man who hugged the Italian back fiercely.

“Yokkata! Thank God! You two are alright!” He sighed in relief. Kiku had changed quite a bit from the Japan standing beside them. His black hair was speckled with white and pulled into a low ponytail. He seemed taller and broader, as if a heavy weight had caused him to age. His features were sharp and defined—even more so by a diagonal scar on his left cheek just below his eye. His sword still lay quietly at his side, even though his clothing was suited to the times in which he now lived.

“What are you doing here, Sushi-bastard?” Lovino asked in a polite tone when he let go of Feliciano.

“I was looking for something, and thought it might be here. Turns out, I was wrong.” Kiku stated as he pulled up a chair and joined them.

“At least you’re okay, aru.” China stated, beyond relieved that his dìdì was all right.

“H-hai…” Japan muttered under his breath, as he remembered Italy’s breakdown the night before. _‘Why did you have to die?’_ he had asked him. Japan knew that his future self would die, but here he was… Would it be like France all over again? His future self didn’t seem to be crippled or injured in any way. _I guess it’s a good thing that I got rid of all those Power Plants, then._ Japan thought to himself.

They watched with wide smiles as the three of them caught up. Kiku was visibly upset at the news of France’s death, but he seemed to have expected it.

“Japan…?” Feliciano asked quietly. He looked timid, as if he wasn’t sure if he should ask the question. “Do you think… could you join us in our journey?” He asked.

“Oh? Let me guess; you two are also searching for the Time Fairy, hai?”

“Si. I suppose you’re searching for the same thing? We’ve already obtained quite a few powers so far.” Lovino stated.

“Hai, I am. I have also obtained a number of abilities. Perhaps we should go over them so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses? After all, if we’re going to be traveling together from now on, we need to know how to fight together, which means we need to know our limitations.” Kiku said as Feliciano let out a whoop of joy.

“Good idea. Who wants to start?” Lovino asked.

“I’ll start! Can I start fratello?” Feliciano asked excitedly.

“Si, si. But first, why don’t we find a more… private location?” He suggested.

“I think I know just the place.” Kiku led them to a deserted area of the beach. It had some grass here and there speckling the sand, and a few trees marking the end of the cove. The water was crystal clear, and the nations could even make out some tropical fish swimming around.

Feliciano grinned as he stepped away from the other two. He closed his eyes in concentration and a frosty wind blew in a circle around him. The ground started to freeze, as the sand became white with frost. Kiku stared in awe as snow started to fall from seemingly nowhere. He scooped some into his hand, staring at it in wonder.

“Ice. Though it includes snow, as well. Technically, you could say it’s winter.” Feliciano smiled. “It’s from a Regios called Umevokin.” Kiku nodded in understanding.

“I’ve been there once. It was beautiful.”

“My other power isn’t really one I can show off, but I can speak to and understand cats and foxes. It’s from the Regios Keuo.”

Feliciano sat down again, as Lovino stood up. “My turn.” He smirked as a circle of fire danced around his feet, melting Feliciano’s leftover snow and frost. “Fire is my first ability.” He said, creating a dog out of fire. “I can also speak to dogs, and probably wolves or coyotes as well, seeing as how they’re related…” The firedog then morphed into a grand serpent. “I can also speak to snakes, thanks to Synriss. The dog thing is from Puewhiem.” He explained, dismissing his flames. The nations marveled at his control. Very little, if anything, was actually burned.

“Hai, my turn.” Kiku said, standing up. With a wicked smirk, he vanished.

“Invisibility?!” Feliciano asked, stunned.

“Not quite, Feliciano-kun.” Kiku said right behind him, making the Italian jump and whip around. “ _Speed._ I visited a Regios called Quang, and gained immense speed—faster than the eye can follow. I can also heal most injuries thanks to an ability from the Regios Guia.” He sped back to the area that Feliciano and Lovino had showed off their abilities. The nations watched in awe. Japan stared at his other self with shock and a tinge of jealousy. _But that’s so stupid to be jealous of myself!_

Kiku then crouched into a low position. At first they thought he was going to do yoga or something, when he suddenly stepped forward, moving his arm in a whip like motion. To the shock and amazement of the nations, a whip of water came forth from the ‘sea’ and followed his movements.

“Dude! You’re a freakin’ waterbender?! That’s so cool!” America grinned.

Kiku guided the water into the form of a tiger. The aqua feline stood beside the Japanese once-nation proudly, a small dragon made of water stood on Kiku’s shoulder. Perhaps only Japan noticed China’s small smile as he realized that the dragon was meant to represent him.

He then dispelled the water creatures, and went into a sequence of similar moves. The grass rose to his will, and grew, intertwining themselves and forming a staff with a very sharp pointy tip, as the trees whipped their branches about angrily. Kiku glanced at the trees with an almost reprimanding look, and they stilled once more. He ran his finger down the staff and the grass unwove itself and returned to its unassuming state of being normal. “I learned to control water from a Regios called Psudeju, I’m sure you’ve heard of it.” Feliciano and Lovino nodded.

“Of course. It’s the largest source of fresh water in the world.” Lovino smirked. “How could we not know?”

“I can also cleanse and purify water. Oh, and I can breathe underwater.”

“Really?!” Feliciano grinned as Kiku nodded.

“Ever heard of a Regios called Rovanwip? It’s well known for relaxation and rehabilitation, and is a popular retirement spot, too. The spirit there granted me the ability to control plants, and even understand them to an extent.”

“So you can _talk_ to plants?” Lovino raised an eyebrow.

“More like I can empathize with them, and feel their emotions. Plants _do_ feel, but it tends to be brief, and simple. I can understand them through their emotions.” The three once-nations shared an excited look.

“Do you think we could spar sometime?” Feliciano asked.

“Hai. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Make it a three-way. Every man for himself.” Lovino chuckled.

“So where are we headed next?” Kiku asked.

“We’re headed to Upwhur.” Feliciano started, “Romano has recently gained the ability to control, manipulate, and _purify_ earth and soil. I was thinking that we should make a Regios for Alfred with his soil. We were heading to Upwhur to work out the schematics and decide how much soil we’re going to need.”

“Nani?! _American_ soil?! Can you purify it?” Kiku asked Lovino.

“Well… I can’t say for sure until I try, but I’m confident that I can purify it given enough time. The problem is getting over there, and getting the soil here. A nation, even with all the top-of-the-line, modern-day protective gear, can only survive those levels of radiation for a day tops.” He said, as silence befell the group.

“Oh! Fratello!” Feliciano suddenly shouted, shattering the quiet. “Remember that project I was working on before The Blast?! The one that I worked on for _years_?”

The nations widened their eyes, as they realized where Feliciano was going with this. “You mean you _did_ _it_?!” Romano finally cried out. Italy couldn’t keep the satisfaction from his eyes. “Si. With yours and Japan’s help, I was finally able to complete a working teleportation device~!” He stated, grinning like a loon. Even after 5,000 years of post-apocalyptic endeavors, teleportation was one of his proudest accomplishments. Of course, Glendan was up there along with the Celestial Blades…

“You mean the teleportation devices?!” Lovino hissed—almost literally—in a sharp whisper.

“Nani? Teleportation?!”

“Si. And I think if we can perfect it, then we would be able to use it to take us to the Blast Zone, and move the soil quickly and with relative ease. The only problem would be getting to the Blast Zone to set up the other side, but maybe we could find a way there…” Feliciano replied in a fast whisper.

“I’ll help… but… There’s a project that I’m working on… I’m creating special Dites for nations that will allow us to use our full Kei. I need your help to make them, though. I’m missing something; I _know_ it! I just can’t figure out what...” Kiku informed them, perking Feliciano and Lovino’s interest.

“Dites for nations? Sounds… interesting. Tell us more.” Lovino stated as the memory faded out.

They then found themselves looking at yet _another_ new Regios. Italy let out a sigh of nostalgia. “This is Upwhur. Romano and I spent a lot of time here. I’ll explain a bit about Upwhur, since we’ll probably see this place quite a bit.” Italy took a deep breath.

“Upwhur is the most technologically advanced Regios in the world. It’s techno-heaven and every Regios mechanic’s _dream_ to even visit. It’s also, by far, the largest Regios in the world, at _least_ the size of 5 or 6 Regios put together. It goes on for _miles_!” The nations’ eyes widened comically at the thought. “As you can imagine, that makes it rather difficult for it to move around. It’s on a very set route, and hardly moves at all! In fact, there are several, smaller military Regios that are tasked with keeping the Contaminoids at bay, so Upwhur only moves when absolutely necessary.” The nations nodded, it made sense. After all, if something that big fell into a crevice or got stuck like Jubil, it’d be done for.

“Romano and I helped build Upwhur, but we didn’t build it by ourselves. It’s one of the only Regios that has a Regios Construction Area, or RCA for short. Romano and I also _own_ one of the three RCAs in Upwhur, and use it to construct Regios. An RCA is basically a giant workshop to build Regios.” Italy continued.

“The people in charge of running Upwhur knew that Romano and I were immortal, and it was a secret passed down from one leader of Upwhur to the next. As such, we never had any problems with keeping ownership of our RCA. Which is a good thing, because we spent a _lot_ of time and money there. We had the top-of-the-line equipment, and were famous among the Regios mechanics. Upwhur’s RCA produces over 80% of the world’s Regios. Romano and I, as I’ve already said, work primarily from Upwhur. We went by the name ‘Vargas Brothers’ and our work was legendary. And I’m not just stroking my ego, either. I’ve lost count of the fan-mail we’ve been sent.” Romano blinked in surprise, as Italy shivered remembering some of the overly eccentric fan mail.

“We’d always mark our Regios with the Vargas Stamp (an Italian Wolf howling at the Italian flag with a Bluebird on its shoulder), which is impossible to replicate, because it also had our Kei signature imbued in it. A few tried, but ultimately failed. Anyways I’ve gotten off-topic. My point is that our main Regios workshop is here. This is where we practically _lived_ , seeing as we’ve made a ton of Regios—at _least_ 13\. This is also where the three of us would build the Regios for America.” Italy finished, leaving the other nations blinking at him, not sure how to take the new information.

“Dude, did you swallow a textbook or something?” America asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ve… While most people know what Upwhur is, there are still a pathetically large number of people who have no clue. Fratello and I have had to explain it so many times that I suppose it became something of a monologue. Sorry about that.” Italy stated with a slightly embarrassed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Still… This place is huge!” England said in awe, as he looked around the Regios. It was many times larger than any other Regios they’d seen so far. If that wasn’t enough, it was like they’d stepped into some sort of Steam Punk world or something. Everything had gears or metal scraps or something to do with mechanics and building. And those buildings or places that didn’t encompass some sort of Steam Punk theme seemed to instead be incredibly high-tech; though far from 3-D or 4-D touch screens and holograms and flying cars that the nations were expecting. Technology seemed to have evolved along an entirely different route that appeared more mechanical than digital. It would appear that the digital age died out with the Initial Blast.

“Some of this rooks famiriar…” Japan murmured to himself, trying to figure out where he’d seen this kind of mechanical technology before. It wasn’t until he saw a shop titled “Automail Mechanic” that it finally clicked. “NANI!? Furrmetar Archemist?!” He blurted out, shocked to see themes from one of his favorite anime in a real-life situation.

“Si. With the way technology was evolving, Romano and I decided to implement some of the themes from your anime. Automail seemed like a fantastic start. Many people ended up dying due to lost limbs and whatnot, so we figured out a way to make the Automail from Fullmetal Alchemist a reality. It’s saved a lot of lives.” Italy explained proudly, concealing a slight chuckle at the star-struck look Japan and America were giving the Automail.

As they walked, the nations looked at some of the other, stranger objects. Pens that drew with light in mid-air, even light-sabers and ray-guns.

“DUDE! THAT’S SOOO _COOL_!” America shouted when he saw the Star Wars-themed weapons.

“Oh, those? It’s just extremely condensed kei. Though admittedly it became a joke, as nobody could use it for more than a handful shots or a few seconds before running dangerously low on kei, except for nations, of course. We never did get around that little glitch.” Italy admitted.

He’d liked the idea, and had come up with it himself. Such a shame that it required too much kei. He and Romano had had such wonderful duels with the light-sabers. Of course, Italy would always be Gray, along with Romano. [Italy had originally been Sith, and Romano Jedi, but they decided somewhere along the way to balance each other out and go Gray. At least, that’s how they played it out. They had to have _some_ fun at times.]

They also saw other, ‘normal’ technological stuff. Things like walkie-talkies, radios, microphones, cassette players, etc…

“How strange, aru. This is the most advanced technology?” China asked, as they followed Feliciano and Lovino into the city.

“Well, there’s hardly any digital stuff left. Nations are the only ones who remember the Age of Technology. Wi-Fi, the Internet, cell phones, none of those things exist anymore. Well, I suppose that might be a tiny lie. Romano and I re-invented a few things like e-mail, computers, digital databases, and improved on a few things. We were able to tap into some old satellites and whatnot, but there was no way that we could release our inventions to the public—there simply weren’t enough resources to mass-produce them. So we decided to use them in our Regios construction, to plan and build. We instead offered them as the top-of-the-line Vargas Brothers Original Regios-Building Technology, or VB ORBiTs for short. Exclusive to Upwhur, of course.” Italy stated with a slightly smug smirk.

“Vow. So you really helped build zis? It’s AWESOME! Almost as Awesome as ze Awesome Prussia! Kesesesese!” Prussia laughed as Gilbird chirped around his head.

“Somebody please shoot him…” Germany mumbled under his breath.

“Sugoi! I’ve heard of Upwhur, but I never thought I’d get the chance to see it!” Kiku’s voice carried as they made their way through what appeared to be the center of the city. It was bustling with life and all kinds of shops, stores, mechanic repairs, restaurants, and cafés. “There’s an amazing academy here, too, right? I’ve heard that it’s highly exclusive, and only lets in people with the most promising talent! And the RCAs here are said to have the most advanced, _unheard of_ technology in recorded history!” Kiku’s eyes shone with barely restrained excitement. He honestly looked like a kid on Christmas morning with a tree filled with presents before him.

China chuckled; it’d been centuries since he’d seen Japan _this_ excited about anything. Well, not including the time he invented Anime… Or when he found out how popular yaoi was… China was still rather touchy that Japan had the audacity to name ‘Yaoi’ after his human name, Yao. Japan had thought it rather hilarious at the time, but China had never quite gotten over that little spiff.

Japan only looked at his future self with intense interest. Perhaps he should ask Italy-kun how to make these Regios. It would seem that it would become a passion of his. It didn’t matter that it was a little large to make in his home; he could always miniaturize it using technology. Huhuhu…

“Come on, Japan~” Feliciano called to Kiku, who stood practically drooling at the entrance to the RCAs. “You _do_ want to see where we work, right? Romano and I helped build Upwhur, so we have a permanent RCA here. Nobody really knows that there are actually _four_ RCAs in Upwhur. It’s why no one knows where the Vargas Brothers build their masterpieces.” Feliciano finished quietly with a tiny smirk.

“H-hai! Onegai! Let me see!” Kiku quickly ran to catch up with a large grin on his face. Feliciano looked at him for a long moment as they walked through the well-lit tunnels. The RCAs were all underground. Lovino, however, was the one to speak up.

“You seem different. More open. 2500 years ago, you’d never show this much emotion.” He noted. Kiku hesitated a bit, his smile fading back to his old neutral look.

“I realized… I realized that I was too polite. Too reserved. Though I felt joy and sorrow, I never let it fully manifest. I thought that if I was always polite and never spoke out, that I’d make more friends… It took the apocalypse to show me that I was wrong. That all I was doing was pushing everyone away.”

The other nations listened with intense interest. It was their one chance to get a peek into the mind of one of the most aloof and emotionally elusive nations. “I’m naturally withdrawn. It’s in my nature. It’s the same with being polite. But I took it a bit too far… I see that now…” He sighed with a forlorn look on his face. “If I could do it over again, I would be more open, more outgoing… I wouldn’t be as much of a recluse, and I’d spend more time with everyone… And I’d apologize to Yao-nii… I see now… It was my pride that kept me from apologizing to my Aniki, and my politeness that kept me from ever bringing it up, even when my pride would allow me to ask him for forgiveness.” Kiku gave another heavy sigh. “If there is one regret that I have, it is that I will never get the chance to apologize to Aniki… Yao-nii… Hountouni… Sumimasen…” He whispered the last part so quietly that the nations had to strain their ears to hear him.

China was in tears. Japan wanted to apologize? After all this time? He still thought of him as his older brother? He was still his Aniki…? He was so happy to know that Japan still loved him. That he was still family to him.

“Aniki… Sumimasen…” Japan quietly spoke to China, as he gave a low bow, almost touching his forehead to the floor. It took China a moment to realize that Japan was actually on his _knees_ begging for his forgiveness. The other nations, thankfully, turned away. It was a private affair between brothers, after all.

“We’ll go on ahead. It’s a straight path, so you shouldn’t get lost.” Italy said, as he led the group on, leaving the two Asian brothers to sort things out.

The two Nations stared at one another for a few tense moments. “Aniki, I—” Japan started, before China cut him off. “You already apologized, aru. And I forgave you _centuries_ ago.” He stated, as he gently brought his precious dìdì into an embrace. Japan just stared ahead in shock. He _forgave_ him?! But! How could he be forgiven so easily?! After what he’d done? He was fully prepared for China to finally reject him for good! So… how?

“Dìdì…” China stated softly as he wiped Japan’s tears away. Funny, when had he started crying?

“Aniki... Naze…?” Japan asked softly.

“Because no matter _what_ , _you_ are my precious dìdì—my little brother. Nothing you do can ever change that. I’ll always love you, and I’ll always be here to protect you. And though sometimes it may take awhile, I’ll _always_ forgive you.” China stated softly as Japan finally hugged back, giving into his tears of relief and gratitude.

“Well, I might not forgive you if you kill Panda, or get rid of Shinatty-chan, but other than that~”

Japan chuckled, appreciating the lighter mood. Now that he’d been forgiven… It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and his heart. He felt so _light_!

“We should catch up, aru.” China stated, as the brothers walked alongside one another in peaceful silence.

After a few minutes, they found the group again. The other nations said nothing about the rumpled appearances of the two nations—England had to whack France in the back of the head when he started his creeper laugh.

The nations came to a roped off area that read ‘private property: Do Not Trespass’.

“And here’s our private lab.” Feliciano said, as he fished some keys out of his pocket.

“Keys? How odd…” Kiku muttered.

“Keys were an old thing, hardly anyone even used them anymore, and even fewer knew how to pick a lock. Between the high-tech security here and the old-fashioned locks, our lab was infamously impenetrable.” Italy explained.

“Si. Hardly anyone remembers what they _are_ , let alone how to _pick_ them. I can’t tell you how many people complained about the door handle being broken because it wouldn’t open.” Feliciano chuckled. “Sometimes the answer to the future lies in the distant past.” He unlocked the door.

“Of course, as Italians, we can’t just do the security half-assed.” Lovino stated as he did the retina and fingerprint scan. The large automatic door opened to allow the three nations in.

“Oh, Kami-sama!” Kiku breathed as he got a good look at their lab. It was massive. Then again, it _had_ to be to build Regios inside. After all, they were building entire _cities_ down there!

What really got the nations was the unfamiliar technology and devices in the lab. They couldn’t make heads or tails of most of it, but they all noticed how clean the lab was as a whole, as opposed to Italy’s private lab from the tunnels.

Italy seemed to sense the unasked question, because he spoke. “We’re not exactly the cleanest inventors, so we pay a few trusted humans to clean our labs when we’re away. And there’s an alarm on the door—if anyone but us tries to take something out of our lab, we’ll be immediately alerted, as will the proper authorities. The alarm is silent, so they won’t know, and passing through the door will also activate the tracking device in the object. As such, it’s impossible to successfully steal from the Vargas Brothers. Ve~ A few tried, but they were all caught within an hour.”

“So this is the unheard-of technology? It looks like a computer or some sort of tablet.” Kiku stated, looking at some of the screens and tools on the table against the wall. It looked almost like a security office area, with two seats surrounded by at _least_ four computer screens and many notes scattered about. A coffee machine was sitting on a separate table nearby with two mugs with the Italian flag design and the Vargas Brothers’ crest.

“JARVIS.” Feliciano spoke clearly, making the nations’ jaws drop.

“No _way!_ You recreated Iron Man’s personal digital _butler_?!” America squealed, shocked and excited.

“ZIS IS _AWESOME_!!!” Prussia shouted, as Italy sweatdropped.

“Si… We did… It makes creating Regios much easier when you have an intelligent computer system to help you out. In case you didn’t know, JARVIS stands for ‘Just A Really Very Intelligent System’. Though I _did_ attempt to make an Iron-man-like suit to fight the Contaminoids, but there’s no existing power source at this time to sustain it. It basically became really heavy armor. Completely useless.” Italy explained nonchalantly.

“Yes, Master Vargas?”

“We’re making a new Regios. Start a new Project File. Title it…” Feliciano trailed off.

“If I may, what sort of project is it?” JARVIS asked.

“We’re building a Regios with American soil.” Lovino stated.

“American? The Blast Zone, you mean? I must advise against this, that soil has extremely high radiation levels, and the air’s acidity could kill even you!”

“I can purify soil, now, and we’re working on the air issue. So just make the damned folder.” Lovino growled, annoyed.

“Fine.” JARVIS seemed to sigh.

“For an artificial intelligence system, it’s rather realistic.” France pointed out.

“Si. It took a lot of work, but we eventually were able to give him a developing personality. Hours and hours of working in the lab _can_ get lonely, even with the two of us there. JARVIS is another reason why nobody can steal anything. He’s always watching over the lab for us.” Italy said, as Feliciano finally snapped his fingers.

“Romano? Japan? What do you guys think of this for the Regios’ name? Hero’s Freedom.” America smiled softly at the name. So that’s what they decided to call it, huh? It was a good name. A strong name.

“Hero’s Freedom? Sounds good to me.” Lovino stated, as Kiku nodded his head.

“Very well, sirs. I shall title the new folder ‘Hero’s Freedom’.” JARVIS stated.

Feliciano and Lovino sat down in their chairs. A four-dimensional holographic Regios suddenly popped up in front of them, waiting to be worked on. Feliciano and Lovino immediately started working without a word. They were both typing away at a keyboard at mindboggling speeds, putting some sort of code in the system. Every now and then, they’d turn to the hologram, and interact with it, adding something in, or swiping something away. Neither of them had to say a word to each other, each one knowing exactly what to do.

Kiku stood off to the side, both amazed at the incredible teamwork, and feeling rather awkward and out-of-place. He didn’t know how to help, as he neither knew how to use their tools and systems, nor what he should do. It seemed as if the twins had everything down to a science, and had a certain way about doing things.

Feliciano seemed to pause as he realized something. “Oh, sorry, Japan! Romano and I are just so used to doing things ourselves that we tend to get a little forgetful when we have guests. You know how it is, when working you tend to become oblivious to your surroundings.” Lovino stopped working as well, remembering Kiku as well.

“Hey! JARVIS! Get Japan another seat, would you? He’ll be working with us from now on.” Lovino stated.

“Vino~ I’m so happy~! You called Japan by his name! You didn’t call him ‘sushi-bastard’ like you used to!” Feliciano cried out happily.

“Sh-shut up! If we’re going to be traveling and working together, then I can’t very well call him a bastard all the damned time, now can I? Besides, Japan is shorter than sushi-bastard.” Lovino muttered, his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

“Huhuhu. I’ll be glad to help you.” Kiku stated, as he took the seat that rose out of the floor, courtesy of JARVIS.

“I’m embarrassed to say that I’m not quite sure how to use this new system. I’ve never used anything like this before…” Kiku said as he looked at the holographic screen that leapt to life before him with warily.

“Oh, let me show you, it’s rather simple once you get the basics down.” Feliciano said, as he stood next to Kiku and started explaining how the system worked.

The nations were then treated to a montage of the three of them working tirelessly on the Regios schematics, going through more coffee than was probably healthy in the process. Finally, it seemed to slow down a bit. Kiku and Feliciano were working on what appeared to be the Dite, while Lovino was going over a small physical 3-D model of the Regios.

“Hey, Japan?” Feliciano asked, as he stretched and walked over to Japan, who was rapidly typing complex sequences into the system, a holographic Dite hovering in front of him.

“Hm…?” Kiku hummed distractedly, acknowledging Feliciano’s presence.

“I was thinking… What if what the Nation Dites are missing isn’t a larger kei storage, but something like a kei concentration and redirection device merged with something akin to a surge protector?” Feliciano suggested, making Kiku pause in his typing.

“Nani? I never thought of that before… It _could_ work, I suppose…” He thought deeply, before calling out, “JARVIS, please add in what Italy-kun just said, and remove the unneeded kei storage space.”

“Right away, sir.” JARVIS said, as the hologram Dite seemed to break apart into its base components, before something flew off the screen, and another piece appeared. Kiku carefully, yet quickly, maneuvered it into place, before it all clicked together. “Run systems check.”

“All appears to be working as intended.” JARVIS informed.

“Run simulation test.” The hologram seemed to transform into a Dite, and charge up, a bar on the bottom seeming to charge up, and started changing from green to red once it reached 70%. “Activate auto-cooling and surge-protector.” Kiku stated, a look of intense concentration on his face, mirrored by Feliciano.

“Activating.”

The bar turned back to green, and it continued moving up and finally, it reached 100%.

“Simulation Test successful.” JARVIS stated, as Feliciano and Kiku whooped for joy.

“IT WORKS!” Feliciano cried out, elated. Kiku looked ecstatic as well.

“YATTAA! I’ll get working on the prototypes right away!”

Another fast-forward montage, before the memory was slowed down and the three memory-nations were standing in front of a table with twelve Dites. Each one looked different from the next. They watched as the three of them tried each Dite.

“We’re so close!” Feliciano finally cried out in frustration. Even Kiku’s usually calm demeanor was shattered by the apparent failure. “Kuso!”

China whacked Japan on the back of the head. “Aiyaa! I thought I broke you of that kind of language when you were 500!” China cried out, as Japan rubbed the back of his head. “Sumimasen…” _But I haven’t said it in front of you yet…_ He thought to himself.

“Wait…” Romano said, “Why are there twelve? And what’s wrong? It looks like it works just fine.”

“Well, Japan wasn’t quite sure what kinds of Dites to make, so he made 12 different kinds. That ended up being the main issue. It limited us. They could handle a much larger amount of kei than normal Dites, about 5 times more, but we needed about 100 times more. We were so close… It took us about 80 years to get this far, and we’d already mostly finished the schematics and basic skeleton for Hero’s Freedom. You can see it over there.” Italy said, pointing towards what looked like scraps of metal fused into a very large circle—not that they could see the whole thing as it disappeared over the underground horizon—or something. It didn’t look anything like a Regios.

“What we were mostly concentrating on at this point was the Celestial Blades, which is what we would eventually call the Nation Dites, and the teleportation machine. We were only about 20% done with the teleportation machine, and roughly 80% done with the Dites. We’d already done almost all we could with the schematics of the Regios, and were just starting construction. We won’t have it finished for a few more centuries.” Italy explained.

“Wait, calm down. Getting angry won’t do anything.” Lovino said, the surprising voice of reason.

“Lovino’s right.” A new voice said. A strange owl flew down, and landed on a perch near the computers. Feliciano and Kiku sighed.

“You’re right, fratello… And so are you, Upwhur.” The nations looked at the strange owl with more interest. It seemed to be rather Steam Punk; made of copper with the gears on the belly showing. There was also a clock in the center of its belly, with silver clock-hands.

“Upwhur, or Whur, as we called him, became good friends of Romano and myself. He’d often lend us a hand or give us advice or just company when we were working. He became rather attached to us, and eventually Japan as well, and began to spend most of his time in our lab. He’s great conversation, and is a goldmine of information when it comes to mechanics, though Romano and I taught him quite a bit ourselves.” Italy explained to the nations.

“If you’re having trouble, or getting overly frustrated, try taking a break. You three have been holed up in here for nearly 80 years, with the exception of a few grocery trips for food. Perhaps it’s time to take a break and enjoy the sunshine for a change?” Upwhur suggested.

“Perhaps you’re right.” Feliciano finally relented. Kiku nodded his head, rubbing at his eyes, which had dark bags under them. “We should probably get some rest, too.”

They went back through the tunnels, and stepped outside, each one of them blinking in the sunlight. Upwhur landed on Lovino’s shoulder and made himself comfortable.

“Oi! You’re heavy! Get off before your gears get tangled in my hair again!” Upwhur chuckled a bit before he flew over and landed on Feliciano’s arm instead. Lovino rolled his eyes as an amused smirk pulled at the edges of his mouth.

“You all look so pale. Were you really in there for 80 years straight?” France asked, shocked.

“Well, we got out every now and then, but pretty much, yeah. When working on a Regios, it wasn’t unheard of for us to be in there for years at a time. If it weren’t for Whur, we probably wouldn’t have even made grocery runs. We likely would’ve sent someone else to do it. Haha. Looking back, it really was rather stupid of us. The vitamin deficiency from the lack of sunlight could’ve been dangerous.” Italy reflected.

“No kidding. Seems you didn’t learn your lessons with your _lab_.” Romano retorted.

“How long does it usually take the humans to make a Regios?” France asked, curious.

“Usually it only takes them a decade or two. There’re usually teams of at least 30 people delegated to each section of the Regios and it’s planning. Sometimes there are as many as 200 people working on one Regios. I think the record for fastest building time of a Regios was 5 years, and it took about 800 people to do it. Not only that, but it turned out to be fairly stable and didn’t really require any tune-ups or repairs. It passed inspection and went on to be a livable city.”

“Sounds pretty cool, but time-consuming.” America pointed out.

“Yeah. But it was so much fun. And the satisfaction of seeing your creation take it’s first steps out into the world on its own… to house and home and protect people, and encourage the population to grow and thrive… There’s nothing truly like it.” Italy smiled nostalgically.

“Maybe we should travel a bit? Take a year or two. We can’t have our fighting skills going down the drain just because we got caught up in a project again.” Lovino pointed out.

“Hai. But what should we do with these?” Kiku asked, holding up the Dites.

“We can use them for now. They’ll work better than the average Dite would. If we want training, why not head back to Glendan?” Feliciano suggested.

“Glendan? The First Regios?! I’ve always wanted to see it. I hear it’s the strongest!” Kiku practically swooned.

“Grazie.” Lovino smirked. Upon seeing Kiku’s confused stare, Feliciano elaborated.

“We built Glendan ourselves. We were the ones to make the first Regios.”

“N-nani?! Sugoi!” Feliciano looked a little uneasy with the starry-eyed look from Kiku.

“Please, no autographs.” Lovino deadpanned. Kiku blinked, and started stammering in embarrassment.

“N-no! O-of course not! I wasn’t fanning or anything! I was just impressed! Yeah, impressed! That’s all…”

The nations chuckled. “Dude, I’ve never seen you so flustered!” America laughed quietly to himself.

“I seem to recarr a simirar reaction when I tord you that I made—”

“YOU SWORE YOU’D NEVER MENTION THAT!” America shouted suddenly, cutting off the smirking nation.

“Then don’t make fun of me.”

“Not fair…” America muttered dejectedly. “You’re not supposed to blackmail me…”

“Kuhuhuhuhu…”

The memory shifted to show the three of them on a roaming bus. Feliciano was sitting at the window, and Kiku was sitting at the isle seat. Lovino was sandwiched between them, but he didn’t seem to mind too much.

The hatch of the Regios opened, and the bus drove down the ramp and into the outside world. The desolation still bothered the nations, and they strained to see some sort of life. Somehow, even the grey sky seemed out of place and too unnatural.

As the bus drove in a seemingly random direction, a light tapping noise started up. “Oh?” Feliciano blinked before he smiled sadly… longingly.

“What is it?” Kiku asked, looking out the window.

“It’s raining.” Feliciano stated as the rain started to come down harder. He watched the clear liquid run down the window, leaving watery trails behind them. The desolate sands seemed to darken, absorbing as much of the precious moisture as possible. Some rocks started to green as the dried moss came to life. Suddenly, the world wasn’t so desolate anymore. There was green and brown and gray and blue. It comforted the nations.

“It seems not all hope is lost, then.” Kiku’s voice was soft.

“It hasn’t rained like this in centuries.” Lovino added, smiling. The bus had slowed significantly, unequipped for the weather, but the passengers didn’t mind. Young and old alike watched the rain with awe and fascination.

“What is it?” A young boy asked an older woman.

“It’s called rain. It’s when the sky is sad and cries water to try to bring life back to the planet.” She explained with awe. “My grandmother’s grandmother once saw rain like this. She said the world was green for days.”

“Why’s the sky sad?”

“‘Because she misses playing with her children. She misses tickling us with her warmth and wind, and she misses blanketing us with snow. She misses embracing us in the sky and watching us play.’” A younger passenger answered forlornly. “A stranger told me that once. She seemed so sad, too.” Kiku perked up.

“Where was this stranger?” He asked. The kid looked at him oddly before he shrugged.

“It was in a Regios called Iceur.”

“Iceur? I don’t think I’ve heard of it…” Lovino’s brows furrowed in thought.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. I wouldn’t have heard of it if I hadn’t stumbled across it by accident. It’s a fairly small Regios. Last I checked, it was in the Northern Region, so that might have something to do with it.”

“Northern? How far north are we talking here?” Lovino raised an eyebrow.

“Like, _cold_. That place doesn’t have too good of a weather filter… There seems to always be snow there.” He shrugged. “Maybe that’s how it was built to be? It’s a pretty old Regios, and most people there were born there. They don’t get travelers often, so don’t expect too much.”

“What’s your angle?” Feliciano asked his brother when the kid had turned his attention back to the rain outside.

“Just a feeling… You getting it, too?” Kiku nodded.

“I think we should visit Iceur. I feel like there’s something for us to find there.” He replied.

“You realize that there’s no roaming busses that go out that far?” Feli pointed out.

“Of course I do, idiota.” Lovino rolled his eyes. “But have you forgotten, already?”

“No. But you’re not driving this time.” Feliciano glared at his brother, daring him to argue.

“You own a Roamer?” Kiku raised his eyebrows.

“Yup. Cost us a pretty penny, but it was worth it. Especially when we want to head to the… out of the way locations.” Feliciano replied.

“Roamer?” Romano looked to his brother for an explanation.

“Basically it’s a car that can travel outside the Regios. Nobody really bothers to get one because they’re really expensive, and if you can’t fight off the Contaminoids yourself, you’re better off not using it. Not to mention the fact that most Regios can be reached through the roaming busses for a very affordable fee. But there aren’t really any busses that travel to the Northern Regions because they tend to be very icy and snowy. It isn’t really worth the risk for the busses to go up there regularly. There’re usually one or two busses up there a year, and that’s just for safety’s sake, so nobody is completely isolated.”

“Why not just use your Roamer instead of taking the public transportation?” China asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Because gas costs a fucking diamond mine.” Italy deadpanned. “You think gas is expensive _now?_ $5 a gallon… Big whoop. Try a good…” he paused for a moment to convert the currency. “$18 a gallon or so. It depends on the Regios you fill up at. Some are upwards of $20. The cheapest one I found was about $12.50.”

“EIGHTEEN DOLLARS A GALLON?!” America shouted. “And I thought _my_ gas prices were ridiculous.” He shivered. That was like, what, $300 to fill up a tank?!

“Mind… gas was only used by the Roaming Busses, and the Roamers. The busses get a significant discount—some places even _free!_ ” he twitched in annoyance. “but the Roamers? Why not make a little extra cash?” Italy shrugged.

“ _A little_ my _a_ …” Canada trailed off under his breath. His brother scooted away from him discreetly.

“So you keep it at Glendan, I assume?” Kiku inquired. Lovino nodded.

“Yeah. Luckily it seems that Glendan is somewhat close to the Northern Region right now.” Feliciano hummed absently, entranced by the rain quenching the parched world.

The nations watched in silence as the roaming bus carried the three once-nations to Glendan. “Please… I don’t want to lose anymore friends. Let them be alive.” Feliciano whispered, as he let the rain color the land that he’d once called home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m so sorry it’s taken me over a year to get this chapter up. T_T Life has been so hectic for me lately, and working 2 retail jobs during the Holidays means no free time to write or edit. :/ So I’m sorry, but I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest chapter. ^_~ The next one hasn’t been started yet, but work is being kind now and giving me about a day off a week or so. ^^ So hopefully, between looking for a place to move to, taking care of a needy kitten, and other personal stuff, I’ll have the next chapter up long before December.
> 
> Words: 7,555  
> Pages: 15   
> Uploaded: 01/08/2017


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